


Never Gonna Be Alone

by DragonWyrd316



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy, Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood and Gore, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Smut, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-03
Updated: 2017-09-03
Packaged: 2018-12-23 04:00:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 40,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11981703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonWyrd316/pseuds/DragonWyrd316
Summary: A series of unfortunate events tore them apart.  Between the destruction of the Normandy, and Shepard's death, along with Reyes joining up with the Initiative, chances of them ever reconnecting were slim to none.  Here's their story.  Starts with mentions prior to ME1 and continues on through Andromeda.





	1. Ruminations

**Author's Note:**

> First off, I want to give a big shout out to my friend and beta, Evil_Sapphyre, for being an awesome woman and helping me so much to make this story a, hopefully, fantastic read. 
> 
> I also want to say thank you so much to Shotce who created the beautiful banner for my first MEBB fic and for the art she made to coincide with the first chapter.
> 
> I hope everyone enjoys!

 

_So you wanna play with magic_

_Boy, you should know whatcha falling for_

_Baby do you dare to do this_

_Cause I’m coming atcha like a dark horse_

_Are you ready for, ready for_

_A perfect storm, perfect storm_

_Cause once you’re mine, once you’re mine_

_There’s no going back_

_~Dark Horse - Katy Perry_

 

While waiting for the cryo sleep to set in, Reyes found himself sinking into memories of the day he met the woman who would become his lover, his best friend, his better half.  He had been in one of the rowdier bars on Arcturus usually reserved for enlisted members of the Alliance when a vision caught his eye.  He couldn’t decide if she looked like a high priced hooker or some officer’s spoiled brat.  A small package, to be sure.  He’d estimate her at around five feet tall, petite bone structure, and a heart shaped face almost dwarfed by a cloud of soft looking curls.  If he were a poetic man, and he was, he’d liken her skin to the paleness of moonlight, a stark contrast to the nearly waist length locks so dark a midnight they gleamed blue even in the dim atmosphere of the club.

His gaze roamed from the silver gladiator sandals, following the crisscross of ribbon that flowed up her calves, and snagged momentarily on the sweet curve of her ass beneath the matching thigh length skirt.  A deep purple blouse draped over her, the neckline artfully pooling off one shoulder while also offering teasing glimpses of a flat, toned abdomen.  She had grabbed more than just his attention, but unlike the others, he had the cojones to make the first move.

“You look like you’re waiting for someone,” Reyes murmured into the woman’s ear as he sidled up beside her, earning a laugh in response.  Violet blue eyes watched him coyly as she tilted her gaze toward him.

“You use that line on all the girls?” she asked.

“Only the pretty ones,” he quipped in response, enjoying the way her eyes crinkled at the corners when she laughed again.

“You’re a smooth one, aren’t you?”  The right corner of her mouth curled up into a half-smirk, causing him to lick his lips in response as he moved his gaze from her lips back to her eyes.  He felt the full weight of her appraisal when she turned to face him.  Watching the way she nibbled on her lower lip while she studied him, he almost let out a moan, swallowing it at the last minute, imagining how her mouth would look wrapped around his cock.  Mentally shaking that image out of his head, Reyes held two fingers up to the bartender, signaling a refill on his drink and one for the lady.

“Oh sweetheart, you have no idea,” he winked, grabbing his shot of whiskey, holding the other out to her.  She took the glass from him and knocked the shot back before slamming it on the bartop.  

“I bet I do.  I’ve been around enough of you flyboys,” she paused to flick her eyes over the wings he had proudly pinned to his shirt earlier after he had officially passed all of his training and exams, “to know how your kind operate.”

“Really?” Reyes smirked, tapping the bartop with idle fingers.  “This I have to hear.”

“You’re all hands and love to show off your ‘docking’ techniques,” the woman replied, a twinkle of mirth in her eyes.

“True,” he chuckled.  “But I like to think I’m better than most.”

Shaking her head with a laugh, the dark haired vision signaled the bartender for two more shots, her eyes locked onto his as she took the time to enjoy the smokiness of the liquor this time around.

“You’re gonna be trouble, I can tell,” she retorted, a smile curving her lips at his bark of laughter.

“I promise not to be a perfect gentleman,” he quipped, knocking back the second shot.  “How about a spin on the dance floor to show you how _imperfect_ I can be?”  The smile he sent her, paired with the hooded look of his hazel eyes, were full of wicked promise.  Holding his hand out, Reyes watched, waiting to see if she took him up on his offer, the music in the background changing to a slow and sensual beat.  He felt his heart roll as she reached out to him, the beats skittering wildly at her touch when she lay her hand in his.

The two of them navigated through the bodies surrounding the dance floor, Reyes pulling the violet eyed dream tight to him as they started swaying to the beat.  His eyes fluttered half closed as he felt the scrape of her blunt fingernails on the nape of his neck, enjoying the intent look in his impromptu date’s eyes as their hips snapped to the beat of the music, driving the two of them closer together.  He let out a soft moan in her ear as she rolled against him, his skin becoming warm and tight with need.  Sliding nimble fingers up under her blouse to rest on the small of her back, he felt the hitch in her breath at the contact of his hand against her bare skin, the fine hairs all over his body standing on end at the puff of air she blew out against his neck.

“I was right about the handsy part,” she leaned up against him to murmur in his ear, scraping her teeth into a light nip on his earlobe.

“Doesn’t seem like you mind,” he growled, teasing her back by pressing her hips tighter against his as he gyrated in tune with the low thumping beat.

“Mmm, nope.  Thinking you might actually be telling the truth about being better than most,” she replied, a wicked gleam in her eyes, fueling the heat even further in his body.

“Well then,” he began, brushing his lips over her cheekbone to her jaw, stopping right by her ear, “want to take this dance back to my apartment?  I promise to make it worth your while.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” she replied, shivering at the touch of his lips against her skin.

Wrapping an arm around her waist, Reyes led the woman off the dance floor, the look the two of them shared telling him that she was looking forward to this as much as he was.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, a big thanks to Shotce for the artwork provided in this chapter, and the banner art. Hope you all enjoy the chapters to come!


	2. Revelations

_You're the light, you're the night_

_You're the colour of my blood_

_You're the cure, you're the pain_

_You're the only thing I wanna touch_

_Never knew that it could mean so much, so much_

  _~ Love Me Like You Do - Ellie Goulding_

 

The next time he thought of her, he was sitting in the med bay, getting checked out after his 633 year sleep.  Sitting quietly, waiting his turn, he looked around at the other pilots who had been defrosted as he had, their services needed to help with shuttling settlers around, as well as supplies, once outposts had been established.  He caught the shy smile one of his fellow pilots sent his way, replying with a brief nod, then turned his head to focus instead on the info wall where a running commentary played along with images of their new golden worlds.

Shena, who had told him her name the morning after a night of extremely mind-blowing sex, had ended up becoming a good friend and an occasional booty call, as she liked to call it.  The two of them fulfilled that role for each other, whenever they were on shore leave at the same time and the need was there.  He chuckled to himself, remembering the time she’d smacked him on the ass and told him her body was on fire for his; so he’d better get to it, or she’d slap a demerit on him.  And oh, the heat in her gaze when she said it.  Even remembering it had him shifting a bit uncomfortably in his seat.

Pulling himself out of the reverie enough to allow the physician to check him over and determine him fit for duty, he realized it was the time he had done a shuttle pick up for her that he had come to the realization that she meant more to him than just the occasional stress relief.  Her vibrant personality and love of life, coupled with her her intelligence and sharp wit had drawn him in.  There had been nights the two of them would sit up all night and just talk - discussing their mutual love of books, vids, and music, though she tended towards more Celtic and folk metal while he loved the sensuality of the Latino music of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

His shift had started as normal.  He had been in the hangar bay, running maintenance diagnostics on one of the kodiaks, when the _USS Bangkok_ had received a distress signal.  He didn’t know much of what the signal was about, other than his ass was requested in the pilot seat ASAP and that once the ship’s medic had hopped on board, he was to be in the air.  

“Anubis en route to the landing zone,” Reyes announced once he was a few clicks out from where the distress signal had originated.  Following the coordinates, he touched down close enough to see a woman on her knees, holding up a flickering biotic shield which was the only thing keeping her safe from the acid spit coming from an enraged thresher maw.  The pit nearest her was filled with bodies, how many he didn’t even want to think of.  The nearby pits looked just as bad.  Looking at the pattern, he could see that they had started out as a unit, with her trying to use her biotics to shield as many as possible so they could alternately attack and retreat.  It made his stomach churn to think that whoever this was, she’d had to live through the horror of watching the rest of her squad turn into melted goo from those things.

Hearing the shuttle door open, he glanced back to see the medic leaning out of the Kodiak, the thresher maw having momentarily gone back to ground.

“Lieutenant Shepard, run!  Get in the shuttle now, before it comes back!” he heard the medic yell.  Watching the armored woman sprinting toward his vehicle, he could see weariness in every movement of her body.  The moment he heard her boots hit the deck and the door close, he rocketed the Kodiak into the air and just in time - the thresher maw had decided to pop out right where he had been parked.  Dodging the acid spit, he got them out of atmo and set a course towards the carrier.  Turning around once he’d checked to make sure all was in order, he felt himself pale as he got a good look at the soldier he’d picked up.

Black hair was piled in intricate knots and braids, reminiscent of what he’d seen used as hairstyles on shield maidens from one of his favorite 21st century television shows, in such a way to allow the woman he’d known as Shena to keep her hair long while also fitting it all under her helmet.  Her skin was pale and clammy, dark bruises under her violet-blue eyes.  Those same eyes, when they flicked up to look at him, were full of shadows and grief.  She had her arms hugged tight around herself, and couldn’t seem to stop trembling, though otherwise she didn’t move a muscle as the medic checked her over for any injuries.

“How’s she doing, doc?” he asked, returning his attention back to the flight controls.

“She’s in shock,” the man answered.  “We need to get her back to the ship and in the Med Bay as soon as possible.”

“I want Reyes there with me,” Shepard spoke up, her voice hoarse and strained, earning him a surprised look from the medic.

"Of course,” he replied, his voice low and soothing.  “Anything you need.  I’m your man, promise.”

Glancing back, he saw that she had cracked a slight smile.  “Thanks.”

Despite his assurances that he’d be with her in the medical bay during her examination, between his post-flight checks, reports, and the chief ship’s medical examiner barring him from the room, his promise fell through the cracks.  Watching through the med-bay windows, he felt tears stinging his eyes at the dejected line of her body - the way her shoulders slumped, her back curved as she tried to make herself small on the table, her hands clutching at her head and her eyes scrunched tightly closed.  Her whole essence screamed that she wanted to hide, to get away from the bright lights and people.  Every time she flinched when the doctor spoke to her, or when he reached out to examine another wound, it took everything he had to not bust down the door so he could stand at her side throughout it all.

His ears pricked as he heard two ensigns gossiping behind him, his hands clenching into fists when their conversation filtered through his consciousness.

“Damn, did you hear?  Lieutenant Savannah Shepard abandoned her entire squad down there on Akuze.  Let those thresher things go after them so she could escape,” one of the ensigns muttered to her friend.

“Why would she do something like that?” the other asked.

“To save her worthless hide?  I dunno,” the first answered.

“I’d suggest you shut your mouths and quit assuming shit you know nothing about,” Reyes growled, turning a cold gaze on the two women.  “From what I could see when I hauled her off that rock, she wasn’t trying to play the coward and run.”

One of the ensigns shot him a hate filled glare before tugging her friend away from the now irate pilot.  Bad enough he wasn’t allowed to be in there like he’d promised, but to have people talking shit about her had him close to exploding.  Looking over at the med-bay when he heard the door whisper open, he expelled the breath he wasn’t aware of holding when the doctor beckoned him over.

“She keeps insisting on seeing you so I’m complying for now.  She needs someone she feels comfortable around after that horror show down on Akuze.  Just be aware that she’s in a… fragile… state.  If I see that having you around ends up agitating her and making things worse, I will have you removed from the bay, understood?”

Nodding, Reyes flashed the man a grateful smile then strode inside, over to where Shena sat on the edge of the bed.

“Sorry I couldn’t be here sooner.  Believe me, I wanted to be,” he murmured, reaching out to take her hands in his.

“I know,” she squeezed his hands in response, her gaze still fixated on the floor.  “You have no idea how glad I was to see it was you on that shuttle.  I don’t think I could do this alone, not right now.”

“If I’d known Savannah Shepard was none other than my Shena, I would have gotten there even sooner.  Why Shena and not Savannah?” he asked, her slight chuckle telling him she understood the underlying meaning of his question.

“It is my name, just not the one on the Alliance’s official records.  I love the way it sounds on your lips and it’s probably the most real part of me that anyone has ever known,” she admitted, her smile faltering again.  “I’m sorry for the deception.  I honestly wasn’t trying to hide anything from you.”

“Hey, hey, none of that,” Reyes voice was gentle.  Crouching down in front of her, he released one of her hands to tilt her chin up the scant few inches needed so he could take a closer look at her face.  “I’m not mad, just surprised.  Sounds like there’s a story there.  Wouldn’t mind hearing it someday, when you’re ready to talk about it.”

His eyes closed as he felt her fingertips slide over his cheek and around to the back of his neck, bringing them close enough that their foreheads touched.  He could understand her need to have something familiar near her after her ordeal, and if this was what she wanted, he was content to just be by her side.  Brushing his thumb lightly over her jaw, he felt the tension drain out of her a bit more, her sigh puffing out to caress his cheek.

“Who’d have ever thought my booty call would end up being such a calming presence?” Shena chuckled, though it lacked her usual mirth.  His eyes popped open and he watched her, worry creeping up on him when he saw her take a deep breath as if to gird herself against what she was going to say next.  

“Thinking… thinking I was going to die down there, I realized something,” her voice was low, hoarse.  “Outside of trying to find some way to survive and hoping I could save my squad, all I could think of was I’d never see you again.  The realization hit me hard and that’s when it sunk in.  I’m in love with you, Reyes.”

“ _Dios_ ,” he ground out.  A hiccuping half laugh, half sob ripped through him, tears leaking from the corners of his eyes.  “I’ve loved you for a long time, but didn’t let myself admit it until I saw you sitting in the back of my shuttle.”

Needing to be a bit closer to her, he stood and took a seat next to her.  Hoping to ease the tension on her face, he slid his fingers over her hair and began the intricate process of releasing the braids and knots she had put her hair up into.  His heart rolled in his chest when she resettled herself on the bed so she could snuggle her body against his chest to soak up his closeness.  Once he had released the last braid and her hair fell in soft curls around her, he carded his fingers through the silken strands, lightly massaging the scalp beneath.  Feeling her body relaxing, he shifted the two of them so they were leaning back against the head of the bed, allowing her to cuddle up to him and tuck her face in the crook of his neck.  Wrapping his arms around her waist, hugging her close, the two of them sat there in silence and allowed themselves to drift off.


	3. Bittersweet

_I'm so tired but I can't sleep_

_Standin' on the edge of something much too deep_

_It's funny how we feel so much but we cannot say a word_

_We are screaming inside, but we can't be heard_

_But I will remember you_

_Will you remember me?_

_Don't let your life pass you by_

_Weep not for the memories_

_~I Will Remember You - Sarah McLachlan_

 

After their mutual declaration of love, the woman who he had thought was an open book to him, opened up to him in ways that still had him in awe.  She had told him her life story prior to joining the Alliance; she had been born and raised on Omega, her mother dying during childbirth, her father one of Aria’s guards.  Aria had taken over in the raising of Shena after her father had been killed in one of the many dank alleyways for refusing to turn on his employer.  Aria was the one who taught her how to use her biotics with precision and skill, even without an amp at that point in time.  Trusted mercenaries taught her how to properly shoot and take care of her weapons.  All the while, even though she was learning the ins and outs of running a criminal empire, she was soaking up anything she could find on the extranet in regards to tech and engineering.  When deemed old enough, Shena had taken over some of Aria’s smuggling and enforcing jobs, and had done quite well until a snitch on the inside caused their racket to end up sidelined by an Alliance patrol.  Given the choice of lock up or service, she’d taken the Alliance up on their offer, banking on it giving her an even wider range of access to learning materials.  Surprisingly, Aria was all for it, because it would also hone her charge into an even deadlier weapon and hopefully keep her from the same fate as her father, even if it meant losing a valued lieutenant in her own ranks.  The name Shena was a treasure reserved for her father, Aria, and him.  To the Alliance, she became known by her middle name, Savannah.

She had actually started off in flight school - ergo her knowledge of how flyboys ‘operated’ - earning the callsign of Morgane, though her fellow flight jockeys had jokingly called her Raven, saying her unpredictability and sometimes cutting humor made them compare her to the avatar of the goddess from Arthurian legend.  She spoke of the only real friend she had made during her tenure there, call sign Joker, who she grew close to because he had been the only person there who got her odd sense of humor, and didn’t try to pander to her because of her looks.  She bemoaned the fact that once the Alliance learned of her biotics, she had been pulled as a pilot, even though she’d earned the right to fly anything from shuttles to frigates.

He had held her when she cried after receiving the invitation to N School once she’d been cleared from the shit show that had been Akuze.  Her survivor’s guilt had flared up, knowing that it was the reason she’d been chosen for the program.  He’d celebrated with her when she graduated as an N7 and joked that she was now even more qualified to kick his ass than she’d been before.  

Sighing, Reyes shook himself out of his memories and looked out among the wreckage of the Nexus, pinching the bridge of his nose at the scatter of dead bodies some of the krogan had left behind.  The damned uprising was getting to be too much.  Tann was doing a piss-poor job of leading the Initiative, and the general consensus was that something had happened to the arks, so they were flying blind with their bare asses hanging out for anyone to take advantage of.  And if there was one thing he hated, it was flying blind.

Deciding it was time to pack up and quit the Nexus, he turned to head toward his small apartment, stopping when he saw something sparkle in the dim light.  Tears stung the backs of his eyes when he picked up the engagement ring that belonged to one of those who had passed on to the ether.  Stuffing it into his pocket, he strode away from the miasma of despair that circulated through the area.  Grabbing up what little he kept with him, he made a detour into the bowels of the Citadel-like structure to where he had stored some of his contraband crates and shuffled it all onto his shuttle.  Hacking the docking clamps and the bay doors, he sped away, snapping a crisp salute back at the Nexus, and followed the faint radiation trails the exiles had left behind.

* * *

Planet hopping until the exiles had found Kadara, and taken care of the kett problem at the port, had kept Reyes too busy to sink down into his memories.  Now that he’d settled into the top floor of Tartarus and had set up his smuggling business, he found himself thinking back to happier times.  Pulling out the engagement ring he had found back on the Nexus, a slight smile curving his lips, he remembered one of the last times he’d had a chance to spend shore leave with Shena.

The two had sent almost daily emails to each other, even if nothing more was ever said other than some cheesy joke.  After what had happened on Akuze, they didn’t like going even a day with silence between them, even if they’d had a spat.  They’d been together as an official couple for almost six years and any time he envisioned his future, she was in it.  They’d lucked out and gotten their shore leaves scheduled at the same time, though his CO had allowed him to disembark a bit early when he’d explained to the woman what he had planned.  Giving him a pat on the back and wishes of good luck, she’d sent him on his way.  

Browsing through the different jewelry stores in the market area of Arcturus, he finally found a ring design close to what he was looking for.  He didn’t want a ring with one of the overly intricate asari or human patterns, since Shena would wear it most of the time on her tags.  Not only that, but she wasn’t an overly fussy person when it came to personality, or even her style.  True, when they’d first met, she’d been dressed as every man’s wet dream, but she preferred jeans, t-shirts, and leather jackets for casual wear.  Hell, when it was the two of them, she was just as happy to stay at home lounging on the couch in one of his shirts and a pair of sweats.

Stopping at one of the cases, one ring stood out.  It was simple, and to some a bit on the plain side, but it held a bit of whimsy.  It had a wide platinum band set with a 1 carat heart shaped diamond that spoke to his inner romantic.  Smirking a bit at the odd look the jeweler gave him at the saying he wanted engraved inside the band, he took his purchase and continued through the markets, buying up armfuls of flowers and setting up a grocery delivery for later.

When she pinged him to let him know she was on her way home, he paid the neighbor’s little girl a small handful of credits to meet Shepard halfway to the apartment with some of the flowers.  Tucking one of the daisies into her red hair which earned him a bright smile, he gently shooed the young girl on her way.  The rest of the flowers were set artfully throughout the living and dining room to brighten them up.  Finishing up the touches on the small appetizer plate of crusty bread and olive oil that sat beside the small bowls of gazpacho, he left the paella simmering on low heat on the stove and plated up the _leche frita_ , or fried milk, for dessert.  Hearing the snick of the door’s locks disengaging, he rushed over to the runner near the door and dropped to one knee, the box in hand and flipped open, ready to greet her.

“Reyes what is all this… about…” Shena trailed off, her eyes going wide with surprise as she looked at him.  Reyes felt his heart trip hammering in his chest and he took a deep breath, his hands suddenly clammy.

“I love you.  You’re my soulmate, the best part of me.  You make me want to be a better man.  Will you do me the honor of being my wife?”

When she stayed silent for a few of his heartbeats, he paled, worried he’d screwed things up.  Then she was rushing over to him, stopping long enough to place the bouquet of flowers he’d sent to her with infinite care on the coffee table, before dropping to her knees in front of him.  

“Yes, Reyes!” she answered, cupping his cheeks in her hands, her smile blinding, excitement vibrating through her body.  “God, this is perfect!  What a day!  I’ve been promoted, and Captain Anderson asked me to be his XO on some sort of hush-hush op commencing after shore leave.  Added to that I’m greeted by my favorite person asking me the best question ever!”

Taking his time to remove the ring from the box, he slid it on her finger, grinning harder when it fit her perfectly, then picked her up and swung her around, his laughter filling the room.  Letting her slide down his body until her feet touched the floor, he leaned forward, brushing her lips with his own.  Sinking his fingers into her black tresses, he nipped lightly at her lush bottom lip until she opened for him, his tongue sweeping in to play with teasing promise against hers.  The little hitch in her breath and the way she dug her fingers into his shoulders about undid him and he had to tamp down the urge to drag her off to their room, but instead he pulled back to stare into the violet-blue eyes he’d come to love so much.

The smile still fixated on her face, her eyes suspiciously wet, he leaned forward to kiss away a tear that had escaped down her cheek.  

“And…” Shena began, sniffing the air, “you cooked.  Paella?  Please tell me you made those little fried custard things too?”

“You wound me, thinking I’d forget such an important detail as that!” he chuckled, earning a playful swat in return.  “Bread and gazpacho are on the island.  The paella should be about done.  Go ahead and get started while I check on it.”  Feathering his lips against her forehead, he stepped back and headed towards the kitchen, stopping when he heard her gut busting laughter behind him.

“What?” he asked, turning to look at her.

“From booty calls to soulmates?  Oh that’s perfect,” she chuckled.  “Do I even want to know what kind of reaction you got from the jeweler with that engraving request?”

“A muttered ‘don’t tell me, I don’t wanna know’ after he gave me a long, disapproving look.”

Shena snorted out a laugh.  “Not surprised.  For such a romantic, you really do have the cheesiest lines.”

“Ahh, but I’m a handsome cheese.”

“That you are.  Now check on food.  I’m hungry and I’m going to need all the fuel I can get with how I plan on burning off our meal,” she waggled her brows at him.

“The lady’s wish is my command,” he leveled an intricate bow her way then continued on toward the kitchen.  His plan couldn’t have gone any smoother.

* * *

Reyes remembered the day he had walked her to the docking bay of her new assignment, the incredulous look on her face when she realized she had been assigned as XO of the _Normandy_ , her excitement when she found out her best friend from flight school was going to be her pilot, and the way she babbled when introducing the two men to each other.  He wasn’t ashamed to admit that he was a bit in awe over the fact he was shaking hands with the man who had flown circles around their training instructors.

He’d wished he could have celebrated with Shena in a more personal setting than a vid call when she was elevated to Spectre status.  His heart felt full to bursting with pride, even though he knew that her new status would make it more difficult for the two of them to find time to be a couple.  Reyes was half tempted to throw his military career out of the window so he could serve in a civilian capacity under her, as it was frowned upon for spouses to serve together since she was also still bound by Alliance protocol, Spectre or not.

He’d done what he could to comfort her after the clusterfuck that was Virmire and her grief over leaving Ashley behind.  Luckily he’d ended up on leave and on the Citadel at the same time Udina had grounded the _Normandy_.  He had held her as she wept over the idiocy of the Council, and cleaned up behind her when that weeping turned to rage.  She was careful not to get into the sensitive nature of her assignment, but he’d heard the scuttlebut that she’d been chasing after a rogue Spectre.  He’d also heard the whispers about the reapers and the confusion behind them.  

Reyes could still feel the terror that had swept through him during the Battle of the Citadel, when the entirety of the Alliance fleet went up against Sovereign and the geth, diverting their attention from the Destiny Ascension.  He knew that while they were fighting monsters on the outside, she was inside going toe to toe with them.  Afterward he had been one of the pilots assigned to do shuttle drops at the tower to look for any possible survivors.  Even now, that hard pit of dread settled in his stomach when he had walked into the council chambers and seen the carnage and debris.  The slumped shoulders of Captain Anderson, and the grief written plain as day on Garrus’ and Wrex’s faces when asked about Shepard, had ripped the heart out of his chest, only to have it slam back into place when he saw her pixie self leaping nimbly over the wreckage, even injured as she was.

Admiral Hackett had approved Shena’s request for the two of them to take shore leave, after the clean-up had begun and she had met with the Council, voting Anderson in as the new Human Councilor.  Inviting the _Normandy_ crew, and the newly dubbed Councilor Anderson, her and Reyes had decided to get married during that time, opting for a simple ceremony.  They’d decided on plain platinum bands, _soulmates_ engraved on the inside, which met with more approval from the jeweler this time around, much to Shena’s amusement.  Their last stop, before hiding away for their few weeks of newly-wedded bliss, was to get their version of couple tattoos - images of each other’s call signs.  Shena opted for one of the god Anubis on her upper left arm, while Reyes went all out with a raven, the main body on his upper left arm, with the wings spanning across his chest and towards his spine.

* * *

 “Shit,” Shena grumbled when her ‘tool pinged incessantly at her, three days into their honeymoon.  Flopping back against the pillows, she stared at the ceiling above her.

“Hmm?” Reyes asked, his voice husky with sleep.  Rolling over, he draped his arm over his wife’s waist, fingers tracing light circles on her stomach, inching slowly lower beneath the sheets until she grabbed his wrist, stopping his hand’s foray south. Not feeling a bit deterred, he took the time to run his lips over the still healing tattoo on her shoulder while she spoke.

“I have to go.  They’re recalling all _Normandy_ personnel.  Looks like ships are going missing in the Omega system and they want us to investigate because they think they’re geth holdouts.  The _Normandy_ is the only ship with any chance of catching the bastards doing it because she’s a stealth frigate.  We’re to be pulling out of port in two standard hours.”

“Shit’s right,” he sighed, moving his hand up to cup her cheek and bring her in for a sleepy kiss.  “Guess I’ll contact my CO and tell her I’m coming back early.”

“Next shore leave I’ll make it up to you,” Shena leaned forward for another kiss.  “Promise.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”

It was the first time either one of them had broken a promise to the other.

 

 


	4. Lost

_My heart is broken_

_Sweet sleep, my dark angel_

_Deliver us from sorrow's hold_

_Or from my hard heart_

_I can't go on living this way_

_And I can't go back the way I came_

_Shamed of this fear that I will never find_

_A way to heal my soul_

_And I will wander 'til the end of time_

_Half a life without you_

_~My Heart Is Broken - Evanescence_

  


Scrubbing his hands over his face, Reyes slipped out of Tartarus to get ready for the meeting Evfra had set up between him and the Pathfinder.  He wondered what his wife would think to know he’d been using her name as his resistance call sign.  It served a dual purpose - a way to keep her with him at all times, and since her name also meant “mouth” in Angaran, it worked well with his choice of trade.

Stepping out of the lift onto the docks into sunlight hazy with sulphur clouds, he caught a clear glimpse of the Tempest as she pulled into port.  While the design wasn’t anywhere close to the _Normandy’s_ , just the sleek shape of her hull had him biting down hard on the inside of his cheek.  Walking over to the rail, he gripped it tightly in hand, a shudder rolling down his spine.

He’d been on the bridge going over requisition requests for the shuttle bay when the order had come through for them to head to the Amada system in the Omega nebula.  They were currently sitting in the Hawking Eta cluster and were the only carrier ship that could get there within any decent time frame.  Confusion ran rampant throughout the carrier, many of his fellows wondering why they were being sent out to the Terminus.  Suddenly, the room was filled with static as a distress call loop began playing over the PA.

“ _Mayday, mayday, mayday!  This is SSV Normandy.  We’ve suffered heavy damage from an unknown enemy!”_

His blood turned to ice.  Along with the other shuttle pilots, he ran back down to the shuttle bay and began suiting up, the recording still loud and clear over the comms.  As it continued, Reyes realized Joker hadn’t cut the audio feed so the entire carrier heard the explosions rocketing the frigate, the hissing of the fire suppression system in the background, along with the screams of those who hadn’t made it to the escape pods.  His hands shook.  They both knew this could always be a possibility with the line of work they were in but, dammit, he wasn’t ready to lose her yet.  They had just gotten married and hadn’t even had time to properly be husband and wife!

_“C’mon, baby, hold together… hold together.”_

_“Come on, Joker, we have to get out of here.”_

That was her voice.  She was still alive!  Running through pre-flight checks as quickly as he could without sacrificing safety, he ran his hands over the switches, following his nav system towards the homing beacons of the escape pods.

* * *

He’d had to swallow the bile that threatened to creep into his throat when pieces of the _Normandy_ began breaking atmo, finding their final resting place a few dozen clicks away from where the escape pods had landed.  Cramming as many people as he could safely carry, he lifted off back towards the carrier.  He couldn’t decide which sight was worse - the burning skeleton of the ship still orbiting the planet, or the pieces that had made landfall below.  Back in the hangar, he ushered the crew he had extricated towards one of the main gathering areas, splitting off to meet up with the other pilots so they could compile the lists they had made of the survivors they’d picked up.  Reading over the shoulder of the man creating the master list, his fists clenched and nails dug into his palms when one name failed to show up.  

Excusing himself, he threaded himself through the throng of _Normandy_ crew and those from his own ship.  He stopped when he overheard Kaidan’s voice raised over the noise of the crowd.

“What do you mean, you lost her?” Kaidan yelled, getting up into Joker’s face.

“I’m sorry, okay?  It’s not like I had my crutches with me that I could hold one of them out for her to grab onto when one of the blasts knocked her off her feet and away from the fucking pod,” Joker snarled back.

“If you had actually gotten off your ass when shit started going south…” Kaidan growled, his body starting to glow with a corona of blue, heralding a biotic attack.

“None of you might even be here.   _Dios!_ ” Reyes interrupted, shoving Kaidan away from Joker.  Sitting next to the pilot, he rested his hand companionably on the other man’s shoulder, even though it was taking everything in him not to scream out in his grief.  “What happened?”

“I dunno… shit,” Joker sighed.  “Routine sweep the last few days.  Nothing popping up on our sensors.  If we hadn't gotten a hit within the next twenty-four standard galactic hours, we were to quit the system.  God, I don’t even know what that thing was that crept up right behind the _Normandy_.  Never seen anything like it before, and it zeroed in on us even with stealth mode engaged.”

“Advanced tech,” Reyes murmured, “able to see through stealth?  Damn…”

"I’m so sorry, Reyes,” Joker choked out.  “If I wasn’t such a gimp, if Shepard hadn’t had to come get me…”

“She’d have gone down making sure everyone else made it out,” he smiled sadly at the man beside him.  “It’s her way.  Saw it with her on Akuze.”

“Glad to see someone’s not blaming me, and you have more reason than that superior asshole over there to be pissed,” Joker ground out, staring at the floor.

“I’ll make sure he’s assigned a deck apart from you at all times until we get everyone back to Arcturus.  She told me you were her ‘brother from another mother’ so that makes us family, no?  I’ll take care of it.”

“Thanks.”

He heard the other man sniffle and he squeezed Jeff’s shoulder gently as he stood.  Approaching Lieutenant Alenko, he folded his arms over his chest and stared the other man down.  “Touch him and I don’t give a shit if it means a court martial, I will hurt you,” he growled low.

“You don’t get it, Reyes!  Shepard was the best damned friend I ever had!  She listened, understood things I told her about my past.  Hell, she got what it meant to be a biotic and how people look at us like freaks,” Kaidan ground out.

“I don’t get it?  Fuck you, Kaidan.  You’re not the only one grieving.  I’ve known her for almost ten years and we were together for more than half of them.  Shit, you were at our fucking wedding a few weeks ago!  And don’t even get me started on how you treated Joker.  That man is more of a brother to her than you could ever be,” Reyes snarled, storming off before Kaidan could reply.  Finding an MP, he asked the woman to keep an eye on Alenko in case the man hadn’t taken his threat seriously, then slipped out of the room.

* * *

He’d stayed in the Alliance as long as he could, but there was only so much he could handle of her image being blasted around as propaganda to join the cause.  He requested, and was granted, a discharge from the service.  Hopping a shuttle, he found transport from the Citadel to Omega.  As a bit of a favor to Shena, Aria hired him on for some smuggling runs, which he found he took to quite easily.  When he wasn’t out dodging pirates or the authorities, he spent his nights in dingy hotel rooms.  Liquor - his lover - wrapped him in a blanket of numbness.

The one and only time he saw the _Normandy_ , running Cerberus colors instead of her original Alliance blue, he broke down in his shuttle and turned around, speeding away from Omega.  Whoever thought it was a great idea to resurrect the dead had a sick, twisted sense of humor, and he wanted to be no where near them.  He decided to hide.  He knew it wasn’t a sane decision, but nothing had been right the last two years.  Reyes purged all his email addresses, anything that could leave a trail back to him, and disappeared into thin air.  He still wasn’t sure how information had reached him about the Initiative and their need for good pilots, but when the opportunity presented itself, he saw it as the perfect way to start over a few million miles away from where his heart was buried.


	5. Found

_ I have died every day waiting for you _

_ Darling, don't be afraid. _

_ I have loved you for a thousand years _

_ I'll love you for a thousand more _

_ And all along I believed I would find you _

_ Time has brought your heart to me _

_ I have loved you for a thousand years _

_ I'll love you for a thousand more _

_ One step closer _

_ One step closer _

_ ~A Thousand Years - Christina Perri _

 

Running her finger lightly over the rim of the shotglass, Shena stared at the amber liquid in front of her, lost in thought.  Things had definitely changed in the last 600 plus years.  No matter where you traveled, there was no evidence of the Reaper War, unless you counted the fact that the krogan now had a seat on the Council, and old friendships and truces still held.  The Citadel looked the same, though the faces were different.  She missed her old crew, but she knew this was for the best.  Their lives were back in the Milky Way - hers was in Andromeda.  Had it not been for Liara and her connections, she never would have known that Reyes had thrown his lot in with the Initiative.  She’d tried getting in touch with him while she’d been chasing after the Collectors; Aria had let it slip that he’d worked for her the past year and a half, but had dropped off the grid.  Every email she’d sent had been returned to her with the error that the address was invalid.  

She had been woken up to be told by Liara that they’d upgraded her amp to the newest and greatest before they brought her fully out of stasis.  During her sleep, between the geth and EDI, and the careful study of the reaper tech that was left behind after she’d destroyed them, relays and comm buoys had been built between the two galaxies.  Right before she’d been thawed, the geth had tested their constructs, and they worked just as well as the original relays.  Until they knew the full status of how things were in Heleus, the relays would remain dormant unless one had the proper IFF installed on their ship, which the  _ Normandy SR-3 _ had.  

Grunt, Wrex (damn had she been happily surprised to find him still alive and fit), and Liara had been the ones to unveil the newest iteration of her baby.  Blueprints had been found for the ships crafted for the Pathfinders and they’d tweaked them to create for her something that smacked of home.  They’d started the project when she went into cryo, her friends having worked on it tirelessly until they’d come up with the perfect design.  Joker made sure the pilot’s chair retained its plush leather comfort.  Garrus came up with a smaller version of the Thanix, calibrating the design until he was sure it wouldn’t interfere with the tinier ship’s power draw.  The mini frigate was also fitted with Silaris armoring and cyclonic barrier tech.  EDI installed herself into the ship, wanting  Shepard to have at least one of her crew still by her side.  Grunt had left a few of his old plastic dinosaur toys on the desk in her quarters.  Wrex parted with his favorite shotgun - she’d recognize his scarred Claymore anywhere.  Tears pricked her eyes while she roamed the ship, almost breaking down when she saw they’d even recreated the memorial wall for her.  Instead of plaques with the names of those who had since passed on from old age, they had decided, instead, to sign their names with funny little quotes.  Chuckling, her gaze passed over Donnelly’s “Kick any new enemies in the daddy-bags, Commander!” next to Javik’s “In my cycle… wait we never did this in my cycle.  You’re a trailblazer, Shepard!”  Garrus had decided to be a smart ass and write “Can it wait for a bit? I’m in the middle of some calibrations” with Tali’s “Go for the optics, Chiktika!”

Mentally smacking herself for letting herself get so deep in her thoughts she had forgotten her surroundings, she almost missed the conversation behind her in the bar she had gravitated to upon landing on Kadara.

“You look like you’re waiting for someone.”

Her eyes closed as that voice washed over her and she almost turned around, but a sudden grip of fear kept her from moving from her table in the shadows near the bar.  Flicking her eyes over, she saw Reyes meeting with another gentleman, the human Pathfinder she guessed, due to how bright and shiny he was in comparison to the others on the planet.  God, they grew them young, nowadays.  Then again she hadn’t been much older than him when Akuze happened.  Reyes looked good, even if there were circles under his eyes that hadn’t been there before.  His body language was also more guarded, though he was doing a good job pretending otherwise.  She saw her husband hand the man a drink, and the two of them clinked glasses.  Knowing they’d be too caught up in whatever their meeting was going to be about to notice her, she finished her shot and approached the other side of the bar where a krogan had been standing earlier.  Ordering a refill, she eavesdropped on what she could of the conversation.

“I’m Shena, but please call me Reyes.  I hate codenames.”

She grinned into her drink, tossing it back and ordering a third.

“I was expecting someone a bit more… angaran,” she heard the young man reply, the two of them moving away from the bar and over to the window.  Returning to her table, she watched the two of them.  She had to admit, even with the jobs he’d done for Aria, she was surprised to see that her husband had decided to stick with the smuggling profession.  Then again, with what she’d seen of Heleus so far, and the news Liara had been able to gather before she left, it was probably one of the most lucrative ways to keep funds pouring in instead of struggling to survive on the Nexus.

Waiting until Reyes left, and then the disgruntled Ryder after he’d been stuck with the bill, she sidled back up to the bar and ordered another shot of liquid courage.  Now that she was here, she didn’t even know if he would be open to continuing where they’d left off before she’d died.  

“So, tell me about that guy who just left?” she asked the bartender.

“Which one?  Reyes or that squeaky Initiative piece, Ryder?” Umi retorted.

“Reyes.”

“That’ll cost you, sweetie, and information costs more than a drink.”

“I’m good for it.”

“Good luck getting your claws in that one.  Many women have tried.  One called Zia came close but all she got out of him was drinks.  Pissed her off royally, come to think of it.  He might want to watch his back around that one.  Have a feeling he’s running from a broken heart or something.  Or, I could be wrong and he’s into guys and just hasn’t found anyone that appeals to him yet on this poisonous rock,” the asari smirked.

“And I haven’t met a man who could say no,” Shena purred, earning a laugh from the woman in front of her. 

“My money’s on him, no offense, sweetheart,” Umi chuckled.  “If you’re just looking for protection, I’m sure any of Sloane’s Outcasts would be happy to serve, as long as they got something in return, if you catch my meaning.”

Rolling her eyes at the bartender’s suggestion, Shena ran her fingers over her ‘tool, depositing funds to Umi including a large tip, smirking when the woman’s eyes widened at the total.

“Y’know, you may end up changing my mind about you,” the asari’s parting words as Shepard left the establishment caused her to snicker.

“Bet your ass, I will.”

* * *

“Lady, you might want to go back to what Kadara considers civilization,” the voice beside her broke her out of her miniature meditation that she used to bleed off excessive biotic energy on the sly.  Looking up at the blondish haired human woman, she tilted her head to one side and offered up a confused smile.

“Why?  Don’t you find the underbelly of places just so fascinating?” she purred out the last bit, having caught the way the woman had sniffed at her outfit with disdain when they had crossed paths earlier.  It wasn’t her fault that her husband had pretty much left all her club clothes behind, keeping her comfies as his treasures.  Laughing a bit to herself, she realized it was almost a mirror of the first time they’d met, though while the blouse was the same as well as the bar being a rowdy one, this time she was stuck in painted on black leather pants and matching stiletto boots, which brought her up to almost 5’4”.  Upside, while it may not be the most comfortable of outfits, it did prove that people would definitely underestimate her in this getup.

“Ugh, look, if you decide to be an idiot and come down here, we’re not going to save you from being a smear on the pavement, or keep you from being thrown into the sulphur pools.”

“Cora, be nice,” Scott clapped the woman on the shoulder.

“Yeah, lighten up a little.  I swear, we need to get you laid, or something,” the bubbly asari standing to the other side of Scott piped up.  “Besides, while I didn’t see dancers in Kralla’s, maybe Tartarus has them and then she’d get it all in one go - employment and protection!”  It was all Shena could do to keep from snorting out a laugh at the long suffering sigh that came from the human female.

The four of them trudged towards Tartarus, and between the beat thrumming through the building and the shabby homesteads, if one could call the crates that, she almost felt like she was home.  While she’d loved being in the Alliance, she’d missed her life on Omega.  Following the trio into the club and up the stairs, she parted ways with them when they went into what she figured was Reyes’ room, while she decided to curl up on the opposite side of the couch from where a young woman was sitting.

“Sorry, sweetheart, I don’t play when I’m not on stage,” the cornrowed woman directed toward Shena.

“Dancer, eh?  Can’t imagine that’s what you’d planned on doing with your life in Andromeda,” she retorted in response.

“Like you have any place to talk, looking at how you’re dressed.  Besides, I had to get away from my craaaazy family.  My brother was a few quarts shy of a full tank of eezo, if you know what I mean,” the woman circled her finger around her temple in the inter-galactic way of symbolizing he was nuts.

“Oh?” 

“Yeah, it was always Shepard this, Shepard that.  Somehow got her to sign an autograph for him, and it all went downhill from there.  Had a little shrine built for her, then went out and pretended to be her, bought armor and all, when she died.  Me, I’m gonna be like Sloane Kelly!  She’s such a badass, all kiss my boots then kiss my bum!  Then I’ll call up my brother back in the Milky Way and tell him he’s not the only one who can get in with famous people,” her grin was wide and toothy.

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” she pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a laughing sigh.  “At least he had better taste in idols - a well known war hero versus a criminal.  Besides, your brother’s dead by now, after you sleeping for over 600 years.  Don’t really think you can just up and give him a call,” Shena rolled her eyes.

“Oh shut it, bitch,” Conrad’s sister snapped, her face flushed in embarrassment, though Shena’s attention was now on the three people who had left Reyes’ room and no longer on the brat she was sharing a couch with.  Standing, she strode over to the door, taking a deep breath before opening it and stepping over the threshold.

“Forget something, Ryder?” Reyes visibly paled as he looked up from his datapad towards his newest visitor.  She watched emotions warring over his face, from shock to joy to disbelief, all to be replaced with rage.  He snapped up from his seat, Carnifex out and aimed at her head within seconds.

“I don’t know who the fuck you are, or how you found out about my dead wife, but if I don’t hear a good explanation within the next thirty seconds, you’ll find yourself sporting a third eye.”  His voice was hoarse, strained with emotion, though the threat was quite clear.

Pulling the dog tags that hung beneath her blouse and snapping them over her head, Shena tossed them over to her husband, him catching them deftly with his free hand.  Her engagement and wedding rings glinted in the dim light.

“I still remember the day you proposed,” she began, tears choking her up.  “Little Gracie, her red hair bouncing the daisy loose that you had tucked behind her ear, ran up to me with this gorgeous bouquet of wildflowers, and told me they were from you.  I walked in the door to the scents of your cooking with you on bended knee, telling me I was your better half and that I made you want to be a better man…” she trailed off, sniffling.  “And I swear, I don’t give a flying fuck if neither of us are still in the Alliance, I’m giving you a damned demerit for taking all my comfy clothes with you and leaving me with nothing but my club shit when I woke up.”

His Carnifex hit the floor with a thud, and she watched him stalk towards her, stopping a few inches from her.  His eyes searched hers, violet-blue meeting golden-hazel, and it felt as if he were looking deep into her soul.  His hand trembled quite visibly as he reached out towards her face, hesitating, the look on his face almost afraid that if he were to touch her he’d find her to be nothing more than a vision, a ghost.

“It’s you.  It’s really you, isn’t it?” he asked, the naked hope on his face her undoing and she burst into tears.  Her reaction seemed to be all the answer he needed as she found herself caught up tight against him moments later.

“ _ Mi querida _ ,” he whispered in her ear, his tears mingling with her own as he nuzzled the side of her face with his cheek.

“God, I missed you,” she hiccuped through her tears.  Pulling back, she reached out to cup the side of his face in her hand, brushing her thumb over his cheek.  Leaning up on her toes, she feathered her lips against his and was rewarded by his hands coming up to cradle her face, holding her to him as he fastened his lips to hers and drank her in as a parched man would water.

Reveling in the feel of his body pressed against hers, the scent of him - something wild and spicy - engulfing her senses, she let herself melt into the moment.  Nipping lightly on his bottom lip, she was rewarded by a husky moan, one of his hands reaching down to cup her ass and pull her tighter against him.  Breaking from the kiss with a shuddering breath, she rested her cheek over his thundering heart.

“While I’d love to continue this thought, I’m guessing you have business with the Pathfinder, and we should probably talk.”  She had barely gotten the words out of her mouth before she found herself scooped up in his arms and gently deposited on the couch.

Patting his lap, Reyes motioned for her to use his thigh as a pillow.  Complying, Shena lay down, her eyes fluttering closed when he began to card his fingers through her hair.  She felt his hesitation when he ran his hands over the shaved sides.

“Well that’s a new development.”  She could hear the confusion in his voice.  “You never seemed the type to go for the tough girl look except for when you were on duty.”

“You once compared me to a shield maiden from that old TV show you loved watching re-runs of.  I kinda took it a step further during the last war.  Had the honor and privilege of fighting alongside the last of the Protheans.  He considered himself the avatar of vengeance and me the avatar of victory.  I tattooed Vengeance on one side of my head and Victory on the other in Prothean.”

Her eyes still closed, she felt him take stock of the changes in her body - the new scars that decorated the left side of her body where Harbinger had partially melted off her armor during the beam run, the spidery trails of silver that caressed her face and elsewhere because she’d felt upgrading her ship and her crew’s gear to be more important than cosmetic surgery, and the hungry leanness that spoke of not enough sleep or nutrition and too much biotic drain.

“What the hell have you been doing?” he asked, concern evident in his tone.

“Cliff’s Notes version for now, okay?”  She opened her eyes and looked up at him, continuing only when she saw him nod.  “By the way, thanks for sticking up for Joker after… after Alchera.”

“He didn’t deserve the shit Alenko was slinging at him.  Bad enough he was blaming himself.”

“Still, thanks.”  The smile that curved her lips was sad.  “So, before you pulled your disappearing act, were you around for the missing colonists?”

“I remember hearing about that even before I went into hiding.”

“And you remember the Battle of the Citadel in 2183.  Well, those reaper shits hired out the Collectors to abduct humans and start creation of a human proto-reaper.”  Shena shuddered, thinking of that monstrosity.  “Cerberus brought me back, basically rebuilt me, to take those fuckers out.  Blew the Collector base sky-high after going through the Omega-4.”

“Wait… so the  _ Normandy _ I saw on Omega… that was you?  Shit…” Reyes cursed, scrubbing a hand over his face.

“You saw us docked?”

“And thought some crazy fuck considered it funny to rebuild your ship and decorate her with Cerberus colors, especially knowing how much you hated that organization.  Wanted nothing to do with that kind of bullshit so I hightailed it out of the system.  Went back to Chile.  Hid up in the mountains, no comm devices.  Didn’t leave until I heard about the Initiative and their need for pilots.  Wanted a clean break, figured I’d start over.  Make something of myself, be somebody…” He sighed.  “Thought it might help with the ache.”

“You’re someone to me, love,” Shena brought the hand that had been playing with her hair to her lips and kissed his palm.  “Always have been, always will be.”

“I feel like somebody when I’m with you,” he cracked a smile.  “So what else happened?”

“Ended up in lockup for six months after sending an asteroid into a relay to keep the reapers from coming through.”  Her eyes closed again, tears leaking from their corners.  “Killed 305,000 batarians from the back-blow of the nova.  Alliance brass said it was more to keep the batarians off me than anything else, but I know better.  If they’d wanted to keep me safe, the  _ Normandy  _ would’ve been the best place for me, not grounding me and retrofitting  _ my _ ship to be used as a command center for another admiral, even if it was Anderson.”

“Damn…”

“Yeah.  Here’s the kicker.  I get pulled into yet another meeting with the Defense Committee to go over the same shit about the reapers I’d done every other time, but this time I can see fear in their eyes.  Comms are blowing up and reports start coming in of those cuttlefish attacking London, Tokyo, Adelaide, Los Angeles… and then they hit Vancouver.  Barely got out of there with my skin intact.”

“Fuck!  And I was already in cryo, on my way here.”  Shena felt the couch jump a bit when he slammed his hand into the cushion on the other side of him.

“And had you not been, you may be dead.  God, the destructive force… Remember how hard it was for the Alliance, with the assistance of the turian military, to take down Sovereign when it was playing suck face with the Presidium tower?  Multiply that a hundred times over.  It was so well executed.  The batarians were nearly wiped out - they hit Khar’shan first.  Earth and Palaven got it worse in the beginning.  Thessia fell… and the Citadel now sits over London.  It ended up being a major piece of a weapon we built to direct at the reapers and they moved it, thinking to keep it safe.  The damn bugs are dead now, but it was too close, way too close.  It took the entirety of every major race in the Milky Way to help take them down and I don’t even want to think of the death toll.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there with you.”

Shena patted his cheek gently.

“It wasn’t all bad.  We cured the genophage.  The quarians and geth have made peace, and Rannoch is now home to both races.  I almost started a diplomatic incident on Sur’Kesh by messing with what I found out later was a feces analyzer because I wouldn’t quit pushing buttons.”

She snickered at the memory and opened her eyes to look up at Reyes to find an answering grin on her husband’s face.

“You really do live up to your name, Shena,” he chuckled.

“Do I even want to know?”

“In Salesh, the angaran trade language, your name means mouth.”

“And I’m damn good with it too, both with words and, well, other things,” she smirked, glancing sideways at Reyes’ crotch, licking her lips at the increasing bulge beneath the cloth, then back up to his face.

“And if Ryder weren’t due to check in soon, believe me, I’d be taking you up on that offer,  _ mi amore _ .”  His voice had taken on that deep husky timbre she loved so much.

“Too bad,” she sighed, though her lips quirked as she fought back a grin.  It felt so good to be with him again.  Everything was so comfortable between the two of them, it was as if their time apart hadn’t happened.  “So, bring me up to speed.  I just arrived in Heleus a couple of weeks ago.  Thanks to a… friend… I was able to sneak onto the Nexus and hack into their systems for nav charts and got an eyeful of info on that shit they call the Scourge, plus the kett.  Took me another week to get out here, following suggested travel lanes to get around that dark energy crap.”

“A friend,” Reyes lifted a brow as he looked down at his wife.

“Well more like two, but only one can safely leave my ship.”  Shena nibbled on her lower lip and her gaze moved from his face to a spot on the far wall, a nervous gesture that spoke of her worry of his reaction.  “I know a bit about these SAM things that the Pathfinders have, but mine’s named EDI and she’s… well shit, how to describe her?  Oh, and Optimus who, uhhh, happens to be a Geth Prime.”

“Wait,  you have a geth with you and what the hell is an EDI?”

“I told you already that I brokered peace between the quarians and geth.  And I’m only telling you this because I trust you, but during the time we were all frozen, they built relays between the two galaxies.  I’m the only one who can travel between at this time, until we know we’re not opening the doors to the Milky Way galaxy to another major threat, which with the kett means the relays won’t be opening any time soon.  But EDI… she’s special.  EDI stands for Enhanced Defense Intelligence.  She was a construct of The Illusive Man’s who, in the end, broke all boundaries of her code and has saved my life along with the lives of my former crew numerous times, and it had nothing to do with her programming.  She didn’t want me to go on this journey alone, and thanks to some help from Liara and others, we’ve been able to refit an infiltration unit with a very durable dermis layer so she can move around and look as human as either of us, though her main programming resides in the AI core of my ship.”

“Talking of ships, where is yours?” Reyes asked.  Shena looked back up at him, breathing a sigh of relief at the lack of judgment in his voice.

“Found some caves in the upper northwest valleys near that flying robot thing.  One of them was easily big enough to fit the Normandy and keep her hidden.  Got my vehicle parked outside the slums here in a nearby hidey hole, but also upgraded with some of EDI’s defenses if anyone’s dumb enough to find it and try to make off with it,” she snickered.  “It’s the perfect marriage of the Mako and Nomad.  Drives like a dream, too.”

“We’ll have to take it for a spin when we have some time, then.”

“And you’ve quite artfully dodged my initial question.”

“Noticed that, did you?” He sighed, his eyes closing and his head thumped against the back of the couch.

“Out with it,  _ a ghrá _ ,” Shena gently urged, reaching up to brush her fingers through a lock of hair that had fallen over his forehead, resting the palm of her hand against his cheek afterward.

“I don’t want your opinion of me to change…” Reyes cracked his eyes open and she found her gaze captured by his.

“You forget you’re talking to Aria’s adopted daughter, sometimes enforcer, and a former smuggler, who ended up on the right side of the law by a twist of fate,” she chuckled.

“True, very true.”  Absentmindedly, he took the hand that was resting on his cheek and kissed the palm.  “How much have you heard of what’s happening on Kadara?”

“Other than the fact that a former Alliance bitch whose ass I’ve kicked a couple of times and thrown into a drunk tank once or twice is acting as overlord to this place, and her Outcast thugs are treating the local populace as their personal banks or punching bags, not much.  Well that and hearing whispers about a second faction, the Collective and their mysterious Charlatan, who are working against Sloane and her company.”  Shena rubbed the bridge of her nose and sighed.  “I may have to find a way to lend my assistance to the Collective.  They seem like the lesser of two evils.”

“I’m… glad to hear you say that.  Your help will be invaluable in taking down Sloane.  She’s done enough damage to Kadara port.  You’ve only seen a little of what she’s done.  Everything is for her Outcasts.  Anyone else?  She treats the angara like shit and enslaves the rest with Oblivion, an antibiotic with some interesting and unfortunate addictive side effects.  Those who can’t pay her ridiculous protection fees end up down here or kicked out into the Badlands.  Choosing to live out there is one thing, but with the lack of clean water and the harsh environment, not including the outlaws separate from the Outcasts and Collective…”  Reyes smacked the back of his head hard against the wall behind the couch.  “Queen bitch even has a throne she directs everyone from.”

Watching her husband, the passion behind his convictions, her eyes widened as the realization hit her.  “You’re the shadow behind the shadows,” she murmured.

The smile on his face was pained, smoothing out the longer the two of them held each other’s gaze.

“Does it bother you?”  She could hear the slight tremor of nerves in his voice.

“Not in the slightest.  In fact, I’m going to let you into a little secret.  As much as I loved being in the Alliance and then later being a Spectre, I missed the fuck out of Omega.  Spent as much time as I could get away with during my time hunting the Collectors, when I was ‘allied’ with Cerberus, on that station.  I may have done a few jobs for Aria off station as well…” her smile turned sly.  “And I may not have stopped doing those jobs even during the reaper war, to help her out both when she was stuck on the Citadel and then later after I helped her kick Cerberus’ ass off Omega.  Sounds like Sloane is trying to be Aria, but unlike my favorite asari, she doesn’t have the experience to back up her actions.”

Reyes let out a bark of laughter, the corners of his eyes crinkling in merriment.  “I must admit, there was something about that line of work that I took to almost immediately when she hired me on.  I’ve enjoyed it a bit too much to let it go and return to being the good little boy I was in the Alliance.  And it’s come in handy, helping the people here as well as those in the angaran resistance, while lining my pockets.”

Shena shifted from where she was laying on the couch, getting up and moving to straddle her husband’s lap.  Cupping his face in her hands, she leaned forward to nip lightly at his lips in a teasing kiss.  “Well then, between the two of us and the Collective, it looks like someone’s reign of terror is about to come to an end.”

“Does that mean you’ll rule from the shadows with me?”

“Absolutely.”

  
  



	6. Reconnecting

_All the rhythms in my heart lift me up and say_

_We're just a mess of broken people but we love the game_

_I would do anything for us, it's worth the pain_

_All the rhythms in my heart lift me up and say_

_Only love will make us ache_

_Only love is worth the chase_

_All my love I know we're waitin' for this_

_On the rocks up on the mountain tops_

_~All My Love - Major Lazer_

 

She couldn’t help herself.  Shena hadn’t been with anyone since the last night her and Reyes had been together, before the _Normandy_ had been destroyed.  Straddling his lap, Shena felt him grow hard against her as they kissed to seal their deal, and her hips rocked against that delicious bulge that fit so snugly against her.

“Damn, you’re going to be the death of me…” Reyes trailed off as his comm chirped.

_“Reyes, I’m at the crime scene,"_ Ryder’s voice floated into the room.  Shena smirked at how still her husband was sitting, trying to keep himself under control.

“Great.  I’ve got intel on our dead guy.  Krogan male, went by the name of Zear. His frontal plate was pried off before he was shot to death.”

_“Damn, bad way to go.”_

Shena rocked a bit harder against Reyes, enjoying the flush in his cheeks and the hooded look that came into his darkening eyes.

“You’re going to pay for that later,” he mouthed at her, earning a cheeky grin in response.  “Do your scanning thing, or whatever it is you and your SAM do,” he turned his attention back to the conversation.

_“Found some bloody tracks, distinctly angaran, looks like at least 3.  And a dagger with an angaran saying about a home filled with strangers becoming a prison, according to SAM’s databanks.”_

“Keep looking, we need some hard…” Shena reached down at that moment to cup him through his pants and squeezed him gently.  Reyes sucked in a harsh breath, barely holding back a moan, his eyes going hot as he stared down his wife.  “...evidence,” he finally continued.

_“You okay, Vidal?”_  Concern was evident in Ryder’s voice.

“Fantastic.  Just banged my knee on my way to the rover is all,” he lied.  Shena snickered, digging her fingers lightly up through his pants behind his balls to massage against a sensitive spot she knew he’d enjoy before rolling the soft cloth covered sacs in her palm.  Her own breath was hitching in her chest, the sight of him fighting not to lose control of his body while clearly enjoying her attentions was intoxicating to watch.

_“Ooookay,”_ Ryder drawled, clearly not quite sure whether to believe the smuggler or not.   _“Well, anyway, I’ve scanned the body and according to the DNA evidence along with everything else, SAM and I are coming to the same conclusion that the Roekaar are definitely behind the murders.”_

“Sending you the ahhh… coordinates… to their hideout,” Reyes’ breath left him in a loud gasp, which sent a shiver down her spine, when she stripped off her blouse, her bra following immediately after.  “I’ll meet you there,” he finished, sounding much calmer than the rapid rise and fall of his chest indicated.

_“You gonna be good to meet with us?  You’re sounding a bit strange…”_

“Almost got caught…” he began, eyes widening as Shena swung herself off him, gaze following her every movement as she knelt in front of him, undoing the clasps that held his pants together and shoving them and his boxers down as far as she could, freeing his cock from its confines.  “Just… just trying to get to a better vantage point.”

Fishing a little vial out of a hidden pouch inside her boot, Shena drizzled a small bit of lube into her hand, swiftly recapping it one handed and shoving it back into her boot.  Enjoying the way he watched her, she licked her lips and wrapped her hand around him in a firm, yet gentle grip.

_“Oh.  Well you stay safe.  Coords put us at about twenty minutes out, give or take.  See you soon,”_ Scott signed off.  The moment the call went dark, Shena leaned forward and dragged the tip of her tongue against the underside of his cock, stopping to tease the underside of the head.  

“Shit,” Reyes’ voice was hoarse, his hands reaching out to grip her hair just tight enough to cause little pinpricks on her scalp.  “Glad I set the charges ahead of time.”

The corners of her eyes crinkled in an unseen smile as she took that moment to pop the head into her mouth so she could taste him.  Using the soft elasticity of the flat of her tongue to wrap around him and lick as much as she could, she relearned his texture, his heat.  Her hand glided up and down his wide girth, fingers light and teasing in some spots, a bit more firm and massaging in others.  He may not be much longer than ‘average’, but he was thick and knew how to use what he’d been given.  She let out a soft laugh all the while slowly sliding him further into her mouth.  The vibrations of her laugh shot down his shaft and pulled a loud moan out of him.

“Do I even want to know what you’re laughing at?” he gasped out, his eyes still locked with hers.  His pupils were blown wide with arousal at how she looked with her lips wrapped around him.

Pulling up for a moment, she blew a soft puff of air over the wet tip then pressing a light kiss to it.  She blinked slowly at him, enjoying the shiver that went through him.  “Mmm, just thinking back to that night we met, when you assured me you were better than most when it came to your techniques.”

“And?”

“So incredibly true.”  Breaking her gaze from him, she looked down at the glistening cock in her hand, letting out a broken moan of her own before she sunk her mouth back down on him.

_“Mierda!”_  His groan was deep and seemed to reverberate through the entire room, surrounding them both.

Taking a deep breath and relaxing her jaw, Shena slowly took him in until her nose brushed against his pelvis.  Raising her lashes, she found his eyes hot on hers and the adam’s apple in his throat bobbing as he swallowed rapidly at the sight in front of him.

“You’re so beautiful,” he gasped out.  She closed her eyes momentarily as she felt his fingers slide back around to knead the back of her neck, and she swallowed convulsively around him, earning another moan.  Teasing her fingers as well as she could along his upper thighs, she slid one hand under his balls and rolled them within her palm, the tips of her middle and ring fingers finding that one spot between his sac and ass that seemed to get him going.

“I’m going to…”  His breaths were harsh and choppy.  “I haven’t… not since you.  Nnnnggghhh, not going to… last… “

Moaning around him, that admission doing enough to heighten her own pleasure.  She shoved her free hand down her pants and began rubbing her clit, fingers sliding easily through her wetness.  The first touch was electric, and her whole body shuddered, proving that she was close to orgasm herself.  

“Oh, _dios,_ I can hear how wet you are…”

“Mmmhmmm,” she hummed around him, bobbing her head up and down along his shaft, keeping her eyes locked with his.  His grip tightened, and his hips started pistoning faster into her.  Flicking the fingertip of one hand faster against her clit, she wasn’t in the mood to take her time.  She also kept massaging that one spot he loved.  Her efforts were  rewarded by a low whine, his usual sign that he was close.

“Cum for me _querida_ ,” he half asked, half ordered.  “Want… want to see it in your eyes.”

Pressing her fingers now in firm circles on and around that bundle of nerves, her body shuddered wildly, her keening whimper loud in the room, even muffled by his cock in her mouth.  She quickly removed her other hand from between his legs and gripped his thigh tight as she rode through the waves of her orgasm.  

“Fuck!”  His shout mingled with her soft moans, and she found herself pulled tight to him while he jetted himself down her throat, his hips moving erratically.  After a few moments, his hands slid bonelessly from her hair.  Being careful, knowing how sensitive he was afterward, her tongue was soft while she licked him clean then tucked him back into his boxers, redoing the clasps of his pants.

“Missed you,” she murmured, crawling back up onto his lap, enjoying the rough feel of his shirt against her nipples.  She gasped when he grabbed the hand she’d used to play with herself, bringing her fingers to his mouth so he could suck her clean.

“Mmm, makes two of us.  Now, before Ryder and his friends possibly get themselves killed, I need to head out to the Roekaar hideout.  You and I are going to finish this thought later.”  She found his lips hard on hers, tongue sweeping into her mouth to mix their flavors, before he pulled back.  Sliding off his lap, she grabbed her bra and refastened it, tossing her blouse back on over it.

“Looking forward to it.  Hopefully it’s a long discussion,” she teased.

“Of course.  We have over 600 years to make up for,” he winked at her before slipping out of the room.

* * *

“You’re late!”  Ryder growled at Reyes as the smuggler ran down the steps inside the hideout.

“I’ve got a good reason, one you’ll see in three… two…”

On one, the room exploded into screams and debris, the four of them making quick work of the remaining Roekaar still standing after the blast.

“Well, looks like you owe me 50 creds, Peebs,” Ryder chuckled, after they’d gone through the cavern to see if they could find anything useful.

“Do I even want to know?” Reyes asked, eyeing Scott and crew.

“She bet that you were late because of some…” Ryder trailed off trying to find a delicate way to explain the bet.

“I bet him 50 creds that you were in the middle of a blazing hot fuck, due to how breathless you sounded over the comms,” Peebee interrupted.

“Goddess,” Cora sighed, throwing her hands up in the air.  “I swear, you two.  There are days I feel like the only damned adult around here.”

Reyes just snickered and packed up his haul.  The Isharay, properly modded and retooled into a matte black would make the perfect assassination weapon for his wife to utilize against Sloane, if she didn’t already have something better.  Watching as Ryder and the others grabbed up some upgrades to their pistols and assault rifles, he set about rifling through the angara to see if he could find anything that could either assist the Initiative or the Resistance.

“Hmm, looking at this datapad, seems as if they were sent here to recruit more into the Roekaar, but didn’t get as many to join up as they’d hoped.  Guess we’ve got more supporters amongst the angara than originally thought,” Scott piped up.

Reyes looked over at the younger man, his nod thoughtful.  “Even with Sloane’s handling of Kadara Port after the kett were run out, they’re slowly coming to realize that we’re not here as conquerors.”

“Your work with the Resistance can’t be hurting in that respect, either,” Ryder shot the smuggler a glance.

“The angara are a good people.  Rescuing the Moshae and exposing the kett’s purpose in abducting them is helping to bring our cultures together,” Reyes added.  “You find what Vehn was up to?”

“Yeah, need to take some info back to the Tempest for Gil to look at, see if we can’t find the Archon’s ship.  Before we leave, though, I promised Dr. Nakamoto to look into getting his antibiotic formula out of his lab.”

“Stop by before you go, I’ll buy you a drink,” Reyes offered, slinging his pack of treasures over a shoulder.

“You’ll just end up stiffing me with the bill again,” Scott chuckled.

“Ryder, you wound me!”

“Yeah, yeah.  We’ll stop by before pulling out of port,” the younger man promised.

* * *

Reyes found Shena curled up on the couch, barefoot, her boots sitting next to the door.  Her fingers were flying over her omni-tool, brow furrowed in concentration.  Puffing a lock of hair that had fallen into her face, she shoved it out of her way with a soft growl of annoyance.

“Everything okay, love?” he asked.

“Still getting used to the higher than normal power buzz with this new implant.  They really stepped up their game in the past few hundred years.  But honestly?  No.  Hacked into some of the Outcast terminals and… shit.  Outside of a fucking temper problem, Sloane had some integrity when she was in the military.  What I’m seeing now… damn.  The reason people aren’t really protesting over her rule is because she’s basically got Kaetus working with the Oblivion distributors to addict as many people as possible so they’ll be more intent on trying to get their next fix rather than focusing on her.  We’re going to need to find a medic or doctor to help these people detox after we get her out of power.”

“I’ve got a doctor on my payroll.  Ryoto Nakamoto is a good guy.  He’s the one who created Oblivion, actually, but not for the purposes it’s being used for.  Said there were properties of this plant that were incredibly similar to penicillin.  Sloane found out about the addictive side of it before he could refine it into a true antibiotic.”

Shena closed out her ‘tool, and chewed on her bottom lip, thinking for a moment.  “If he still has any of his work related to Oblivion, if you think he’s trustworthy enough, I could let him use the medbay on the _SR-3_ to work on refining it into something usable without addicting a good percentage of the population.  And hopefully while doing that he can find a way to create an antidote of some sort.”

“I’d trust him with my life.  Hell, he’s working out of a shipping container on the other side of Tartarus, helping the sick and injured in the slums because he couldn’t stand working for Sloane anymore, not with what she’s been doing.”

Setting his pack on the floor, Reyes took a seat next to his wife.  “Got something for you, by the way.  Wasn’t sure what you might have brought with you from the Milky Way, and you’ll definitely need some gear.”

Reaching into the pack, he pulled out the Isharay and handed it to her, his lips curving into a grin at the delight that lit up her eyes.

“Oh my god, this is a work of art…” she breathed out a sigh of awe, running her hands over the sniper rifle.  Bottom lip between her teeth, she quickly dismantled it, taking a look at each piece, then used her tool to scan the parts to send back to EDI for modding specs.  “Higher powered by a good thirty percent than my Black Widow, though the reload and firing speed could be better,” she murmured, going through the disassembled parts as she put them back together.  “Clip can’t be increased, sadly, but the other two issues I can easily mod.  Only a bad sniper needs more than one round per shot anyway, and with a good silencer…”  A laugh escaped her lips, eyes twinkling as she turned to look at her husband.

“I did good then, Shena?”

“It’s perfect,” she answered, quickly pulling her omni-tool back up.  Typing in a few codes, EDI’s face filled the screen.  “EDI, got some specs incoming.  Need some mods for what looks to be an angaran sniper rifle.  Would you mind setting up my workbench for when I can make it back to the ship?”

Leaning over to look at the image on her screen, Reyes lifted a brow.  “That’s your EDI?  You’d never know she’s an AI.”

“That’s the purpose of this body being an infiltration unit, Mr. Vidal,” EDI replied.  “Looks a damn sight better than the penis-head chess piece image I was originally fitted with,” the AI added, a trace of humor in her tone.

Reyes stared at the image then bust out into laughter.  “Joker must’ve loved that.”

“The stories Shepard and I could tell you of our initial time on the SR2,” EDI chuckled.  “But to answer your question, Savannah, yes, I can get your workbench set up.  I will also file the schematics away and see if there are any ways I can improve upon the weapon.  You are doing well, I assume?”

“Reunited with my husband and in the middle of planning on how to depose a despot from her throne?  I’m fantastic,” Shena smiled.

“Good to know,” EDI replied then turned her attention to the man beside her friend.  “Mr. Vidal, do you mind if I connect to your omni-tool as well?  It would assure me a better chance of keeping the both of you safe for each other and allow me to contact you if the need arises.”  At his nod, her image flickered up on his screen as well as his wife’s.

“All right, now that you’re connected to my ‘tool, mind telling me how close you are to these coordinates?” Reyes uploaded a set of coords in the westernmost canyon in the Kurinth’s Valley region, an approximate ten minute drive west from where a couple of enterprising ‘gardeners’ had set up shop to make their own Oblivion.

“Not far.  A cave wall on the northern side of the chasm a few clicks east of the homestead you’ve marked,” she answered.

“So, that large building up against the cliff face is yours?” Shena asked, turning to look at Reyes.

“Close enough to slums that with my shuttle, it takes only a few minutes to get here and it allows me to bypass the architect flying further east in the valley, but far enough away that I can actually feel as if I’m truly getting away.  Until I can get a larger landing pad for the _Normandy_ built, that area gets no traffic so you should be safe in landing on the canyon floor.”

“Fantastic.  That’ll make it easier to access my ship.  EDI, I’ll ping you when we’re leaving here and heading for home…” she trailed off, saying those words causing a happy warmth to spread through her chest.  Her and Reyes exchanged looks, twin smiles curling their lips.

“Acknowledged.  Mr. Vidal, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you.  EDI logging out,” the AI’s image faded from their displays.

“She’s not implanted into you like the SAMS are in the Pathfinders, is she?” Reyes asked, his brow furrowed with concern.  “I don’t have a problem with AI’s, for the most part, but I have to admit, that gives me the willies.”

“Nope.  That’s one thing I have to give The Illusive Man props for, he wanted me brought back as me, with nothing more than the biotic implant in my head and the cybernetics that regulate my heart, lungs, vision, healing, etcetera, because he didn’t want anything inserted that could change who I am, or how I feel, even if it meant me giving him nothing but the finger and a view of my backside once I realized who brought me back to life,” she replied.

“Wait, cybernetics?  How…” his voice roughened, remembering the way the _SR-1_ looked when he was shuttling survivors back to the carrier, “... how badly were you injured?”

“I was dead,” Shena sighed, grabbing his hand in hers and lacing their fingers together, needing the comfort of his touch.  “It took two years to turn me from ‘meat and tubes’, as one person so poetically worded it, into a walking, talking, living human being.  Skin grafts, reconstituting blood vessels and nerves that had freeze dried, rebuilding corneas and a whole bunch of medical stuff that I even have a hard time wrapping my head around.  If I didn’t have those cybernetics, I would be dead from the last war.  I felt myself die a half a dozen times between the run for the Citadel beam and actually opening the arms to allow the weapon to dock.  And if that hadn’t killed me, the resulting recoil from the weapon firing would have, were it not for those pesky little electronics constantly restarting my heart until I was found in the rubble days later.”

She caught the look of horror on his face and felt his hand pull from hers.  Not wanting to read too far into it, she took that moment to pull up her ‘tool and send him all the records and files from Project Lazarus that Miranda had given to her.

“You went through all of that without me.  You were alone and I… I ran away.  I’m sorry,” he sighed, folding her hand back into his, rubbing his thumb along the inside of her wrist.

“Nobody knew.  And those files I sent, it goes over Project Lazarus, my rebuilding, so to speak.  I wouldn’t read it too close to a meal or late at night if you want to sleep,” she tried smiling but instead found herself blinking back tears.  “And after the reception I’d received from Alenko the first time he saw me afterward, I started wondering if maybe it was a good thing I couldn’t find you at that time.  Having a friend treat me like trash and constantly questioning my motives was one thing.  I couldn’t have handled it if you’d done the same thing.”

“I probably would have handled it as well as I did seeing you walk through my doors today.  Only you would know about the threat of a demerit you liked to tease me with, or that I’d been the one to run off with your stuff.  I couldn’t leave pieces of you behind.”  He reached out to touch her cheek and turn her face towards his.  “You hacked your way into my heart and that’s where you’ll stay.”

Shena spluttered out a laugh and grabbed him to her in a tight hug.  “You and your cheesy lines, I fucking swear.”

“Yes, but I’m such a handsome cheese, as I’ve said before.”

“Yes, yes you are.”

“Reyes, the Pathfinder and crew are on their way up to your room,” Kian stated through the intercom, interrupting the two of them.

“Ooh, time for me to get back into the sex bunny routine,” Shena smirked, hopping up and over to the door to tug her boots on real quick, earning a sly grin from her husband.  He yanked her up against him just in time as the doors slid open and Ryder and crew stepped into the room.

“Well, Scott, looks like you may end up owing me those fifty creds after all,” Peebee snorted, her gaze bouncing between Reyes and Shena.

“Ugh, what are _you_ doing here?” Cora spat out, looking at Shena.

“Oh, I’m sure you can figure it out,” Shepard purred in reply.  “I get the protection you so _graciously_ pointed out I need in a place such as this, and this handsome figure of a man gets sex in return.  Win, win, I think.” She let out a little squeal as Reyes palmed her ass and squeezed.

“Disgusting.”

“Mmm, far from it.  Can’t wait to see what he has in store for me.”

“Looks like I’m keeping those creds, Peebee,” Scott quipped, grinning over at the asari.  “Doesn’t sound like they’ve done anything yet.”

“Oh we will,” Reyes joined in, tilting Shena’s face up to his so he could press a light kiss to her lips.  “But business with the Roekaar was more important, and since I knew you were stopping by, well there are some things a man doesn’t want to have interrupted, am I right?”

“I don’t feel comfortable talking with _her_ in the room,” Cora spat out.  “How do we know she’s not a spy for either the Outcasts or Collective?”

“Dammit, Cora,” Scott sighed, rubbing his forehead.  “If I didn’t know any better I’d almost think you’re jealous.  No need to be so rude.  God, even Gil didn’t act like this when he found that drunk in Vortex pawing all over me.”

Reyes leaned down to whisper in Shena’s ear.  “You remember the coordinates of the house?” At her nod he continued, “Head there and I’ll be home shortly.  Your clothes are in the crates in the closet.”

“I’m going, I’m going,” Shena griped, earning a smack on the ass as she turned around to head toward the door.  Smirking back at her husband, she threw in an extra sway to her hips and blew him a kiss right before the door closed.  Once she was on her own, she resumed her normal walk and stepped out of the club, activating her cloak and vaulting the fence into the Badlands.  Skirting around, she found the cave she had hid her upgraded Mako/Nomad hybrid.  Hopping inside, she smiled, hearing the engine roar to life, and sped out of the cave and towards the canyon where her new home waited.

 

 


	7. Homecoming

_I think the stars are especially bright tonight_

_And I love the way they shine_

_Reflecting inside your eyes_

_It's you and me forever_

_That's what I know for sure_

_My heart is here for you_

_Just like an open door_

_I can't say in any better way_

_Hard to explain_

_What you mean to me_

_You're beautiful_

_~You’re Beautiful - Taio Cruz_

  


Cresting the rise over the last hill that separated her from the canyon and the rest of the valley, Shena pinged EDI to let her know she was close.  Stopping the vehicle, she watched as the _Normandy_ flew gracefully from inside the large cave to land with barely a cloud of dust onto the canyon floor.  Putting the hybrid into gear, she drove toward the ramp, loading the tank onto the ship.  Sliding out, she looked over to where her friend was approaching.  Even though she was able to communicate with Shena throughout the ship as she was on the _SR-2_ she still preferred to interact in person, as it were.

“I’ll be back down, EDI.  I’m going to head up to the house and find the crates Reyes said he has my clothes stored in.  I shouldn’t be too long.  We’ll catch up when I get back.”

“Understood, Shepard,” the AI replied.  

Smiling up at the green eyed, blonde haired woman who towered over her, Shena turned and made her way back down the ramp.  Walking over to the series of metal stairs that were professionally hooked into the stone, she made her way up the handful of tall flights until she made it up to the top.  It was when she tried the door that she realized Reyes had forgotten to give her the codes to unlock it.  And while she may have an incredible AI who could help her hack her way in, not knowing what kind of safeguards he may have set up, she wasn’t about to chance it.  Opening up her ‘tool, she shot off a quick message.

_Reyes,_

_You forgot to give me the codes to the door.  I can’t get in, you dork._

_~S_

* * *

While sitting and enjoying drinks with Ryder and his crew, Reyes looked down when he heard his ‘tool ping.  Checking the message, he fought the urge to facepalm at his stupidity.

“Everything okay, Vidal?” Scott asked.

Smirking in response, he nodded.  “Evfra was just letting me know that they were able to get Vehn off Kadara safely.”  In fact that message had been the one he’d been checking when his wife walked back into his life.  Typing a quick response to her message, he relaxed back on the couch, and nodded towards the drinks the others had in their hands.  “Another round?”

“One more.  I think you owe us that much,” Ryder grinned, downing the rest of what was in his glass.

“I told you I’d buy this time around.  I make good on my promises,” Reyes chuckled when Scott’s reply was a raised brow.

* * *

_Shena,_

_Damn, I’m sorry, love.  I’ve sent the unlock codes to your tool.  You should be able to get in now.  I'm hoping be home in about an hour, depending on how quick I can get Ryder and his troop out of here.  Missing you already._

_Your loving dork,_

_~R_

Using the codes Reyes sent, Shena unlocked the house, taking in the opulence of the surprisingly large space.  Off to her left was a kitchenette housing a small filtration unit for the water he was able to pump up from the nearby underground stream.  On the right was a spacious living area, decorated in creams and dark, rich browns, complete with a large wall mounted vid slash comm unit and plush seating.  In a rack near the window sat his guitar and her… Holy shit!  He had her violin too!  She’d wondered where it had disappeared to.  Behind the living room, and in the back, she walked into an equally spacious bedroom, done up in deep reds, blacks, and golds, with a massive bed up against the center of the back wall.  Bookcases lined the walls, with the spot for a decent sized desk and stereo.  She’d have to move the chess set Aria had given her into this room, though the husk head would stay behind in her cabin.  Vega might have loved the damn thing, but she wasn’t about to give her husband any more nightmares than she was sure he already had.  To the back left was the closet, where she was sure she’d find her clothes, though next to that was a door that led into a nice sized lavatory.  With the state of the water on Kadara, she was surprised at the inclusion of a bathtub, but she was sure, if she was careful with water rationing, she could find a time to relax with a hot bath.  Until then, she’d make do with a quick shower and her comfy clothes.

Stepping back out into the bedroom, she walked to the closet and opened up the two crates, finding one filled to the brim with her jeans, t-shirts, and hoodies.  The other was stuffed with sweatpants and joggers, more t-shirts, and her robe.  A few pairs of her preferred black steel toed work boots sat next to the crates, along with her athletic shoes.  Grabbing a black t-shirt that had, at one point in time been her husband’s (until she confiscated it), and a pair of heather gray sweatpants, she roamed around until she found his chest of drawers.  Pulling open the top drawer, it took her entire will not to cry, (although she’d be a liar if she didn’t admit that she sniffled just a little), when she saw her socks and underwear folded neatly next to his.  Umi had been correct.  There was no way, with how he’d settled his life here, that he ever entertained the idea of himself with another woman.  Not like she’d have blamed him if he had - she’d been gone for two years, and he thought she’d died.

Grabbing what she needed from the drawer, she went inside the bathroom and took a quick shower.  Drying herself off, she did what she could to blot away as much moisture as she could from her hair. Getting dressed and throwing on a pair of athletic trainers, Shena jogged back down the staircase to the ship.  Once she entered, she went straight to her workbench, and set about checking her tools and the mods EDI had laid out for her for when she had time to fiddle with the Isharay Reyes had given her.

“Savannah, have you eaten anything lately?” EDI asked from the entrance into the loading bay.

“Forgot.  So much going on and when Ryder and his squad showed up, wasn’t like I could find a good way to excuse myself.  They don’t know who I am, just think I’m some tart thanks to the wardrobe I got stuck with before hitting up the port.  I don’t mind, to be honest.  Helps a bit with what Reyes and I are planning, to be sure, if people underestimate me.”

Hearing the clicking of heels as EDI walked over to her, she saw a protein bar placed on the workbench in front of her.  Busting out a laugh, she grabbed it and unwrapped it, shoving half of it into her mouth.  “At least the flavorings have gotten better,” she quipped after she had swallowed her bite.  “Hell of a lot better than what the auto-chef pops out.  Over six hundred years have passed and those things still cook like shit sometimes.”

EDI propped her hip against the table, looking down at the human who had helped her become the woman she was.  “How does it feel to be back with him?”

“Amazing.  I feel… whole.  Guess that’s the one downside to being an AI - everyone you care about will eventually pass on from old age.  I wish I could spare you that pain, EDI.  Even having found Reyes again, knowing I’ll never see Joker, or Garrus, or Vega, or any of the others outside of you and my other long lived friends, it leaves a big hole in me.  It hurts, but my future is here; theirs was not. I just hope they lived happy lives.”

“They did,” EDI acknowledged, handing Shena another power bar once she had finished the first.  “Have you contacted Liara recently?”

“No, and I need to, but I’ll do it once Reyes is back.  He may help me better explain the kett issues to her, and why we need to keep the relays on lockdown for the time being.  While I’m down here, mind heading up and installing one of the new QEC’s to his vid-comm unit?  I don’t want to have to hit the ship every time I need to talk to her or if I want to talk to Wrex or Grunt, or if, god forbid, the Council requests my attention _again_.”

“Of course, Shepard.  Have you thought at all about the Council’s suggestion?”

“Of acting as an extension of them, still under the guise of a Spectre, here in Heleus?  Fuck, EDI, with the way the current leadership on the Nexus is, and the way Tann and Addison can’t seem to remove their heads from their asses to save their lives, do you honestly think they’d allow me to work in that capacity?  Or they’d abuse their power and use me as the hammer against the nail.  On top of all that, it means I’d have to start living as Shepard again.  I fought Saren, took down the Collectors, and rallied the galaxy against the reapers.  I think I’ve earned a chance to retire in peace with my husband, running a few smuggling jobs here and there.”

EDI made a non-committal hum in the back of her throat then nodded.  “I think I understand.  Your stress levels, your vitals, are much calmer and have evened out since you reunited with Mr. Vidal.”  She quieted a moment, her voice hushed when she spoke.  “I didn’t always report back to Dr. Chakwas, but there were times I wondered if you were going to expire on the spot with the weight of everything you had to do.  I’m glad you didn’t.”

“That makes two of us.”  

“I’ll head up to the house now, Shepard, and get started on installing the QEC as you requested.”

“Thanks EDI.”  

Leaning up against the workbench, she decided now would be a good time to check her ‘tool since she really had nothing else to do.  Getting caught up on some of the messages her friends had sent her since arriving, along with yet another request that she take over Spectre detail in Heleus, she could feel a bit of a headache brewing.  She wished her husband were here to help her take her mind off that last bit of business.  Closing out her ‘tool, Shena tilted her head to one side, a noise catching her attention.  Heading over to the top of the ship’s ramp, she took a few steps down and smiled when she saw Reyes’ shuttle land on the small pad he had built attached to their home.

“Honey, I’m hooooome!”  He called out as he hopped out.

“Down here!” She yelled back.

Taking the stairs a few at a time, it wasn’t long before Reyes was approaching the ship.  She watched him as he walked the length and breadth of the newest iteration of her baby, a naked look of awe and appreciation in his eyes at her design.  “Looks like the _SR-1_ & _SR-2_ ’s love child,” he chuckled.  “Gorgeous, but much smaller and I must admit, I’m surprised that it’s armed, after having seen the Tempest.”

Reaching out to grab the Isharay he held out to her, Shena waved him inside as she made her way over to the work bench.  “I wouldn’t have felt safe in this girl if they hadn’t installed some sort of armaments.  And even though EDI has a mobile infiltration platform, what’s the point in having an AI who has expanded her capabilities as a defense intelligence if you give her a ship that has no artillery?”

“What’s she equipped with?”

“Basic wing mounted missiles and a miniature Thanix, though don’t let the size deter you.  Tests show it’s as powerful as a full sized cannon.  Then again with Garrus having designed the one to fit this ship, that doesn’t surprise me.  She’s also equipped with Silaris armoring and Cyclonic Barrier tech.  I pilot her, but EDI is my co.  Hell, I could leave everything in her capable hands but I love being at the helm.  I may even let you take her for a spin.”

As she talked, her hands flew with expert quickness over the rifle as she pulled it apart, modifying it with the components EDI had crafted and laid out for her earlier.  Snapping the pieces back together with perfect precision, she hummed to herself for a moment.  “Beautiful gun, but until we have a plan for Sloane, it may be too powerful.  I’ll mod it further later, but for now, until I have a chance to test it…”

“How are you on armor?”  Reyes asked.

“Oh, on that, I’m good.”  Shena walked over to her armor locker and withdrew a set of black phantom armor.

“Looks a bit flimsy,” he frowned.

“Not as flimsy as what that human woman was wearing, the one who seems to have a hard-on where I’m concerned,” she rolled her eyes in response.  “And from the feel of her energy, I’m going out on a limb to say vanguard, so she’s in the thick of things.  I’m just a lowly adept with a love of tech.”

Reyes snorted.  “Lowly my ass.  You could run circles around her and her ‘commando trained’ ass, I’m sure.”

“Ahh, so she’s the one who was in the exchange program because of her biotics.  Remember, had I not been in the N program and what have you, the Alliance was angling to have me train with the asari.  I declined, as you well know.  I didn’t give a shit about the sideways glances people gave me about my biotics.  In the end it served them well enough.  Galaxy saved and all that crap.”

Grabbing her gear, and storing the armor along with her Paladin and Wraith inside the rover-tank, she glanced over at the Isharay, then sighed, shaking her head.  “God, I’d so love to use that rifle but as I said, until I can test it and see how it feels, I’m better off with the Black Widow.  Depending on location and distance, and what the plan is for ridding Kadara of Sloane, I’m not about to take any chances of a through and through that might hit an innocent.  Plus, it has a stand.”  Jogging back over to her gear locker, she grabbed the sniper rifle and stowed it with the rest.  “Sorry, sweetheart.  I’ll find a time to put the new rifle to good use, but I’d rather err on the side of caution this time.”

“I understand, love.  Speaking of EDI, I’m surprised she’s not here for me to meet in person,” her husband stated, running his hands over the black and red tooled body job of his wife’s vehicle.

“That would be because she’s installing an upgraded QEC in your vid-comm unit right now.  Figured, between your job and my contacts back in the Milky Way, that would make things easier.  You may want to have her looking into your ‘tool as well.  I had a mini QEC installed in mine so I can still contact Liara on the go if I’m nowhere near the _Normandy_.  Which reminds me, I need to update her on the kett situation and see if we can get IFF’s installed on her ship and one for Wrex and Grunt, just in case.  Plus I need to send her star maps of this cluster so she has the newest information, especially with the Scourge.”

“You expecting trouble?”

“Always.  As one of my favorite STG members once said, ‘Our motto within STG is to always expect trouble. Failing that, create trouble for someone else.’  And while I may not be STG, the premise is the same.”  Her eyes took on a wicked gleam.

“You were a Spectre, so close enough.  And your other favorite STG member?  From the way you’re talking, there’s at least one more.”

Her smile turned sad.  “Mordin.  If he wasn’t singing patter songs, his favorite thing to say was ‘It had to be me.  Someone else might’ve gotten it wrong.’  Damn, I miss that crazy bastard.  He gave his life for the cause.  If it weren’t for him, the genophage would’ve never been cured, the turians would never have gotten help on Palaven, and we wouldn’t have a krogan on the Council now.  They’ve become the allies they could’ve always been had shit not gone south during the Rebellions.”

Noticing her distress, Reyes reached out and pulled her into a hug, rubbing gentle circles over her back.

“I wish I could’ve been there for you.”

“Wasn’t meant to be, but we’re here together now, and that’s what counts.”

“Where’s that geth you were talking about earlier?”  Reyes asked, looking around the cargo bay.

“Probably powered down and hooked into the geth mainframe.  He’s been gathering intel and sending it back to the others.  You’ll meet him later.  For now, let’s head home, shall we?”

Lacing their fingers together, Reyes and Shena walked down the ramp to be greeted by EDI as she returned to the ship.  She couldn’t help the soft laugh that escaped her at the way her husband’s eyes grew wide looking at the well built woman striding toward them.  She watched as he looked the AI over from head to toe, taking in the swing of honey blonde hair and green eyes, and the catsuit that left little to the imagination.

“I swear, EDI, we need to get you something other than Miranda’s old outfits to wear.  In that get-up you’ll catch more attention than would be safe.”

“I’m not too worried about it as I have no intention of going too far from the ship for the time being.  Even so, I wouldn’t mind having something different to wear, and it’s not like I can borrow your clothing.”

“Too true.  I’m midget sized compared to your amazonian proportions,” Shena tapped her chin in thought, her lips quirking at EDI’s chuckle.  “We’ll figure something out, but for now, Reyes and I are heading up.  You keep an eye on our girl here and let me know if anything happens, all right?”

“Of course, Shepard,” EDI nodded her assent.  “Have a good evening.”

The ramp folded itself up behind EDI, leaving Shena and Reyes alone against the darkening sky.  The two of them made their way up to the house, Reyes ushering her in before he locked the doors behind them.

“So what do you think of my humble abode?”

“I love it.”

“And I see you found your clothes.”

“Exactly where you told me they’d be.  Now all I need to do is get them hanging in the closet, but that’s a chore for another day.”

“Mmhmm.  Tonight’s just for you and me.  We do have a ‘conversation’ to finish, if memory serves,” he leaned in close to nip at her earlobe, causing her to shiver.

“And what discussion would that be?” Shena’s expression turned coy as she looked up at her husband.  Finding herself tossed over Reyes’ shoulder in response, she let out a shriek of laughter and reached down to smack his ass, her feet windmilling in the air.  Within a few strides, they were in the bedroom and she was airborne for a moment before hitting the bed, bouncing a couple of times on its plush surface.

“Mmm, soft.  May have to curl up and get some sleep,” she yawned dramatically, earning a playful growl from Reyes before he pounced on her.

“I don’t think so, my sweet.  Not for a long while, if I can help it,” he smirked, leaning forward to nip at her chin.

“Nope, suddenly really tired.  Much nicer bed than in my ship, and I need my beauty sleep,” she deadpanned, the look in her eyes solemn.  The quirk of her husband’s brow startled a snort out of her and she collapsed into a giggling fit.

“I’ve missed you, my little wildcat,” her husband murmured, leaning forward to nuzzle her neck.  She shivered at the prickly sensation of his five o’clock shadow against her skin.  When he started placing open mouthed kisses along her collarbone, she melted into the bed beneath her, a sigh of contentment escaping her lips.

“Not so tired now, are you?”  She could feel the curve of his lips ghost over her as he smirked.

“Dunno.  You might have to do more, see if it wakes me up.” Her laugh turned into a breathless moan when his hand skirted up underneath her shirt and teased over the curve of a breast.  She felt his answering shudder when he realized she was bare under the shirt, skin ripe for his touch.  He buried his face into the crook of her neck while his hands relearned every curve, every dip, and she felt every responding tremor of his body when hers arched or shivered when he found a particularly sensitive spot.  She ran her fingers through his hair, content to let him touch, enjoying the closeness she’d missed for so long.

His mouth found its way up her neck, over her jaw and chin to her mouth.  She loved how soft his lips were, how expressive in the ways he used them to touch her.  His tongue licked across her lower lip, seeking entrance, and she opened her mouth to him, letting out a soft hum at his taste - the woodsiness of the whiskey paired with a light tang of lime matched his scent of vetiver, citrus, and gun oil perfectly.  A gasp exhaled from her into him when a callous roughened thumb found a pebbled nipple, and she pressed herself tighter to his touch.

“Ahh, Shena,” he rasped in her ear, the fine hairs on her neck raising at the emotion in his voice when he broke from the kiss.  His hands lifted up the hem of the baggy black t-shirt she had donned, and she lifted herself up from the bed to help him divest her of it.  Watching him as he looked his fill, she felt, more than saw, him ghosting his fingers over the scars on her left side.

“Reaper weapon and pistol shot from The Illusive Man,” she answered the question in his eyes.  In response, she watched when he slid down so he could press his lips against the old wounds there.  From there he traced the spiderweb of scars that matched the same pinkish silver tissue on her face.  

“Skin grafts from my rebuilding,” her voice was hushed, her hand coming up to cup his cheek at the tears that escaped to trail down his face.  The whisper of his lips over as many of the scars that he could reach had her sinking further into the mattress, wrenching mewling whimpers out of her as the caress both soothed and enflamed.

“So many…” Raw emotion pulsed from his voice, his breath feathering over every inch of skin he bared, and soon she found herself naked to his gaze.  Her heart thundered in her chest, the mixture of awe and sadness in his eyes doing more to disarm her than any foe she’d ever faced.  Reyes removed his attention from her for a moment to strip out of his armor.  She took the time to look her fill - bronzed skin, muscles rippling under a lean frame.  Not overly muscular but with a wiry strength that fit well with his lifestyle.  Her eyes caught on the newest addition to the raven tattoo he had on his left shoulder, the date the _Normandy SR-1_ had gone down over Alchera.  Lifting her eyes to his, she found her gaze trapped by his, and the sad smile that curved his lips.  Holding her hand out to him, it was soon embraced by the warmth of his own, and he trailed kisses from her wrist up and over the Anubis tattoo she’d had redone during one of her trips to Omega.

Laying there, she watched Reyes as he ghosted his fingers over her skin, raising the fine hairs over her body, goosebumps following in their wake.  When they stopped at the small incisions at her abdomen, he looked into her violet-blue hues, and she read the unvoiced question in them.

“Too badly damaged. Couldn’t be repaired,” she murmured.  Feeling the bed dip with his weight when he sat down next to her, her skin tingled under where his lips found gentle purchase on those same scars, hand spanning her lower abdomen as if cradling what would never be nestled inside.  His weight on the bed shifted and soon she felt the soft glide of his tongue on the inside of her thighs.  Letting her head fall back to the pillows, Shena gripped the sheets, her breath puffing out in soft moans which each kiss that made its way further north.  Spreading her legs for him, her breath caught in her throat when his fingers spread her apart to his gaze, and she felt the heat of his mouth as it hovered over her most secret spot.

“Reyes,” she whimpered at the first touch of his tongue against her clit.  The flat of his tongue lapped at the juices glistening on her lips.  Her body thrummed under his touch as he alternated between licking teasing swipes along the length of her and flicking the tip of his tongue over her nub.  When he circled her clit with the tip and then blew lightly over it, she shifted her grip from the sheets to his hair, her hips jumping in response.

“I love you,” his voice rumbled against the soft skin of her inner thigh.  Resting her trembling legs over his shoulders, she rolled her hips against the finger she felt him slip inside, then hissed at the combination of pleasure and the stinging feel of being stretched when he inserted a second.  Her body adjusted to the invasion while he kept himself still inside her and when he sucked on her clit, it spurred her hips back into action.

“Damn, you’re tight,” he rasped out.

“Hasn’t… hasn’t been anyone since you,” Shena replied, her breath shuddering out of her as he found his rhythm.  

“ _Dios_ ,” he groaned, and she almost came right then and there when his fingers found that spot inside and pressed down.

“Oh Goooood,” her breath hitched and her grip tightened in the thick strands of his hair.

“That’s it, Raven,” he purred against her clit, the vibrations causing her hips to jerk in his grip.  His fingers slid in and out quicker, gliding precisely over that spot, his lips finding purchase again over her clit.

“Too… too soon,” she gasped, even as her body sought out the release he promised.

His response was to press harder inside her and flick his tongue over her while nipping lightly.  Stars exploded behind her eyes while her body shuddered against his mouth.  He soothed her down from her high with gentle laps of his tongue.  She opened her eyes when the bed shifted to watch him sit back on his haunches and suck his fingers clean while watching her.  

“Fucking tease,” she whispered, voice raspy, and he replied by reaching down to stroke himself in front of her, the smirk she loved so much curving his lips.

“And you adore me for it.”

“God help me, I do,” she sighed out a laugh.  “C’mere, love.”

He crawled over her on all fours until his face was right above hers.  Palming his cheeks, she pulled him down for a kiss, the taste of her juices still tangy on his tongue.  Pulling back, she looked in his whiskey hazel eyes.

“Come home.”

Understanding jumped into his gaze at her words, and he helped her shift her hips, lifting a leg high on his waist, to ease his entrance into her.  Twin moans sang through the air at the contact they had missed the last many years.  His hand slipped between them, circling her clit, to help her relax through the stretch of his body in hers, giving her something else to focus on rather than the sting of her body adjusting to his girth.  Sucked in by the blown wide pupils of her husband, she barely noticed the heat that had increased in his gaze when she palmed her breasts, tugging and rolling her nipples between her fingers.

“So fucking sexy,” he growled.

“Mmhmm,” she purred.

“Ready?”

“Fuck yes.”

The friction inside her, the pull and glide of his cock each time it slid home, stole the air from her lungs.  Perhaps it was their time apart or the joy at finding each other again, but everything felt more sensitive, each touch more electric, than she had remembered.

“Don’t remember… this feeling… so good,” Reyes gasped in her ear.

“Same,” she mewled as a roll of his hips changed the angle just enough to press him up against that spot inside her.  Her nails dug into his shoulders, feeling the ripple of muscle beneath her palms with each flex of his body against hers.  His breathing grew more ragged in her ear, and she pulled her knees closer to her chest, pulling him in deeper.  She nipped her way down his neck to sink her teeth into the cord of muscle at the crook of his neck and shoulder.  His body stuttered against hers, the change in the rhythm startling another climax out of her and she cried out against his skin, her nails scoring down his back.

“ _Mierda!_ ” he shouted.  “Shena!”

His hips jerked as he emptied himself inside her, collapsing into her waiting arms.  Her breath a fast staccato beat against his damp skin, she rained soft kisses over his cheeks and forehead, brushing his sweaty hair away from his face.  Their lips met and clung together, tongues meeting then pulling back in a gentle kiss.  A soft smile played across her lips as his fingers traced over her cheekbones and jawline.  

Rolling off her and collapsing onto his back, Reyes let out a shuddering groan.  Laughing softly, Shena curled up against his side and rested her head over his still thundering heart.

“That was intense,” his voice was hushed, filled with wonder.

“No complaints here,” she replied, letting out a shriek of laughter when he playfully smacked her ass.

“Ahh, my Raven and her way with words.”

“I’ll leave the poetry to you.  I prefer to slay with mine,” Shena grinned, earning a bark of laughter from her husband.

Reyes shifted from his position enough to pull the sheets over their cooling bodies and she felt herself tucked closer to his side.

“Thank you,” he whispered into the night air, followed by the caress of his lips against her temple.

“For what?”

“Following me.  Not giving up on us.  Being you.  I love you.”

Propping her head up, Shena saw the glisten in his eyes in the darkened room, intense as they focused on her.

“I love you too.  You’re worth following to hell and back.”

  


 


	8. Back to Work

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone who's played SWTOR, I left a little easter egg for you from one of my favorite republic classes. Let's see who finds it...

_Lying close to you feeling your heart beating_

_And I'm wondering what you're dreaming,_

_Wondering if it's me you're seeing_

_Then I kiss your eyes and thank God we're together_

_And I just wanna stay with you_

_In this moment forever, forever and ever_

_I don't wanna close my eyes_

_I don't wanna fall asleep_

_'Cause I'd miss you, baby_

_And I don't wanna miss a thing_

_~I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing - Aerosmith_

 

The sun crested over the mountains, gentle rays slowly creeping over the couple.  Reyes woke to find Shena tucked up against him, playing little spoon.  As the pink, orange, and buttery yellow dawn filtered into the room, he took the time to watch her sleep, enjoying the way her eyelashes fluttered against her skin and how sleep took his hardened warrior and turned her into a fae queen, smoothing out the tension on her face.  If she wasn’t so warm against him, if he couldn’t feel her heartbeat under his palm, he would have considered last night a dream brought on by not enough sleep and too much wishful thinking.  Ghosting his fingers over her shoulder, he tilted his head to one side when he realized she had a new tattoo that spanned the entirety of her upper back, from shoulder to shoulder.  It was the Spectre symbol recreated into the wings of an angel.  Nestled above it, just below her hairline, was a small heart created from their first names.  With the new ink his wife had added to her body, he wondered if she had decided to have an N7 tattooed to her ass to go with her induction into the Spectre ranks.  Stifling a laugh, the vibration was still enough to wake her up.

“What’s so funny?” she yawned, turning her face towards his.

“Wondering where your N7 tat is hiding,” he replied with a cheeky grin.  “Maybe officer’s bars?”

Snorting out a laugh, Shena buried her face into the pillow.  “I got dog tags for that shit.”  She smiled at the kiss he placed on her shoulder and grabbed the hand that had returned to resting over her heart, lacing her fingers through his.

“Mmm, while I’d love to lay here all day, I know we’ve got work to do.  What’s on the agenda for today?”  

Stretching behind her, Reyes squeezed her close in a quick hug, then let her go, slipping out of bed.

“First, shower and then I’ll make us breakfast while you’re doing the same.  Then there’s a shipment of mine that may have possibly been sabotaged I need to look into that I’d like your help with.  After that, thinking we could work on a plan to deal with Sloane and her second-in-command Kaetus.”

“Please tell me these plans have me either in my armor or in something other than my come hither wardrobe,” Shena muttered into the pillow.

“Yes to both.  In fact the Tempest has left port because Ryder has a lead on the kett’s Archon, so he’ll be gone for at least a week or two, which means…”

“Which means I can be me,” she interrupted, breathing a sigh of relief.  “Shena Vidal, not some sex kitten seeking protection from the _oh so scary exiles_.”  

“Exactly,” Reyes replied, coming around the side of the bed to crouch down in front of her, his lips a gentle caress against hers.  “Enjoy the rest a little while longer while I’m getting cleaned up.”  He slid his fingers through her hair, dragging his nails lightly along her scalp, earning a purr of contentment from his wife.

Enjoying the sight of her husband’s bare, rounded ass as he walked to the bathroom, Shena burrowed a bit further under the covers until it was time for her to get up.

* * *

Using some of the hair gel her husband had in the bathroom cabinet, Shena slicked it through her still damp hair, scrunching the curls and leaving her sides bare to show off the prothean tattoos on each side of her head.  Winging her mascara and adding a smoky color to each eyelid, she slicked on some lip gloss and fixed the silver hoop in her left nostril.  Adjusting the chains falling from the belt loops of her jeans and making sure the belt itself was tight enough to keep the ensemble from falling off her hips, she wriggled her toes in the steel toed boots she hadn’t worn for years to get used to the feel of them again.  Fastening her bra, she dabbed a bit of scent behind her earlobes and pulled on a black baby-doll t-shirt.

Striding out into the kitchen where scents of whatever Reyes was cooking made her mouth water, she came up behind him and leaned up to press a kiss against the back of his neck, then wrapped her arms around his waist and lay her cheek against his spine.

“Smells good.  What are you making?”

“One of your favorites.  My own version of a western omelette with sausage and homemade salsa,” he replied.  Catching the confusion in her surprised grunt, as he was aware she knew how rare those ingredients would be, Reyes continued on before she could ask.  “Your EDI brought up all the freeze dried food from your ship since you won’t need it there anymore.”

“Oh god, something that isn’t a protein bar for once.  I’ve gone through so many of those I could probably have bought stock in them and gotten some of my money back,” she sighed happily, her stomach growling in agreement.

“You need something better than protein bars, _mi amore_ , especially as a biotic,” he sighed, turning his head to look down at her with his customary smirk.  “Go sit, and I’ll bring breakfast over shortly.”

Pressing a kiss between his shoulder blades, she dropped her arms from around his waist.  Reyes’ laugh as she stepped away from him had her raising a brow.  “What?”

“Nice shirt,” he nodded to the front of it, “You call me a bitch like it’s a bad thing.”

“It’s true!  I’ve knocked people out of windows for less,” she snickered, thinking back to her former life, as she took a seat at the table.

“Oh now this I have to hear,” Reyes said, bringing their plates over to the table, placing one in front of her.

“Oh, not much to really tell.  It was on Illium and I was trying to recruit a drell assassin for my team against the Collectors.  He was going after Nassana Dantius - I’m sure you remember me telling you about the asari who lied to get me to kill her sister.  One of her Eclipse mercs was standing in front of a bank of windows.  I didn’t like how he was answering my questions, so I shoved him out of them.  A bit more satisfying than pulling the trigger, to be honest.”

Snickering, Reyes shook his head and took a bite of his omelette.  The two of them fell into silence for a while as they focused on the food.  It was comfortable, companionable, and a relaxing return to the normality the two of them had missed.  Picking up her now empty plate, Shena grabbed Reyes’ dishes as well and took them to the sink, washing them with efficient quickness.

“So…”  Shena turned her head at her husband’s voice and looked over at him where he was stretched out on the chair, tipping it onto its back two legs.

“So?” she asked, approaching him once the last dish was dried and put away.  Quirking a brow at how he grabbed at her left hand, she bit down hard on her bottom lip when he slid her wedding band and engagement ring onto her finger.  Looking over at his left hand, she noticed his wedding band was back in place.

“I know it’ll have to come off again when you put on your armor, but…”

Reaching out, she took his head in her hands and straddled his lap, forcing his chair back onto its four legs.  Leaning forward she pressed a kiss to his forehead then leaned back to look into his eyes.  “You sure?  You’re not worried about any questions that might come about?”

“None.  You’re my wife.  And if Ryder or his people ask, well your wily ways just sucked me in,” he winked at her.

Snickering, Shena rested her arms over his shoulders.  “So, you said something about cargo before?  What’s going on?”

“A business rival, a woman who didn’t appreciate my… disinterest in her, decided to lift cargo I was moving for a client.”  His brows knit together when he frowned.

“Zia Cordier?” she asked.

“How…?”

“Umi.  I was fishing for info after you and Ryder left Kralla’s the other day.  She wished me luck with you, said others had tried and failed, including Zia who was only able to get you to buy her a drink or two,” her eyes twinkled with mirth.  “Her bet’s on you, by the way, on resisting my feminine charms.”

Reyes threw his head back in laughter.  “If only she knew, but actually she will soon.  Zia likes to go to Kralla’s whenever she’s on Kadara and I figured we could talk to Umi, see if she has any news.”

“Sounds good.  How soon do you want to leave?  And are we arriving together or separately?”

“Depending on the info Umi gives us, might be better if we arrive apart, only so we have access to both my shuttle and your tank.”

“Makes sense.  I’ll have EDI tuck the ship back up into the cave just in case and see if she wants to come along for back-up.  Still need to get her something less conspicuous to wear.  Think I’ll hit up the markets near Kralla’s when we’re done, see what I can come up with.”

“Let me up then, babe, and I’ll meet you at the bar.”

Pressing a swift kiss to his lips, Shena pushed herself off her perch and headed toward the door.  “See you soon, _Charlatan_ ,” she winked back at him, earning an eye-roll and a cheeky grin.

* * *

Inputting the docking ramp codes to the _Normandy SR-3_ as she approached, she strode up into the ship’s interior and over to EDI’s locker.  Pulling out armor similar to her own, though in a dark navy blue, she also grabbed up the AI’s Paladin and Locust SMG.

“Are we going somewhere, Shepard?” EDI asked, approaching her friend.

“Yes, if you don’t mind acting as backup in case we need to head out further into the badlands.  Until I can find something a bit more suitable for you outside of armor, I hope you don’t have an issue staying down with the tank until my business up in the port is finished.  And for chrissakes, please don’t call me Shepard.  I know you’re used to it, but here I’m Shena Vidal, not Savannah Shepard.  Hell, don’t even call me Commander if you can help it.”

“Adjusting programming now.  I’m sorry, Shena.”

“I know, EDI.  I just want to fly under the radar for as long as I can and if it gets out who I was back in the Milky Way… well it’ll put a target on mine and Reyes’ backs which we don’t need, especially right now.”

“Understood.  I’ve been monitoring communications between the Outcasts and the Collective both, and chatter has increased exponentially with the removal of Dr. Nakamoto’s Oblivion formula that Ryder stole out from under them.  Sloane is not happy and has increased her aggression toward the innocents of the port.”

“Shit, then Reyes and I need to move quickly.  So, wanna come with me as backup?  If you do, until we return, let’s hide the ship in the cave.  I’m not taking any chances with her or you.”

EDI responded by taking the armor out of Shena’s hands and stripping out of the catsuit she was wearing, to replace it with the navy phantom armor.  Holstering the Paladin and Locust, she checked the seals and nodded.  “Ready, Shena.”

The two women hopped into the tank and Shena backed it down the ramp.  Once the vehicle had cleared, EDI folded it back up into the ship and began the slow and careful process of parking the _Normandy_ in the nearby cave.  Shifting into gear, Shena backed up the hybrid until she was facing the correct direction, and sped towards the port.

* * *

“You look like you’re waiting for someone,” Shena purred, her smile coy, as she approached the bar.  Reyes smirked in response and shifted over to give his wife some room.  She leaned against him, resting her arms on the bartop.

“Ugh, want a drink or a room…” Umi trailed off once she realized who the woman was who stood next to Reyes.  Her eyes flicked down to their matching wedding sets then back into the pairs of eyes watching her.

“You’re shitting me!”

Shena choked out a laugh.  “To be fair, I got out of cryo not too long before I arrived.  Would’ve been here sooner but leadership on the Nexus was a bit close-mouthed on where my husband was.  We were married for a couple of years before the Initiative left.”

Picking up one of the drinks the asari slammed in front of them, she downed it in one gulp then motioned for another.  “We’re not actually here for the liquor.  We need info.”

“And I already know you’re good for it, sweets, unlike your husband here who likes to stiff others with his tab,” Umi snickered at Reyes’ hurt look.

“You seen Zia around anywhere?” He asked, ignoring the teasing from the bartender, getting straight to business.

“The one who’s pissed she couldn’t get in your pants?  Yeah, she was here the other day; met up with some shady salarian, someone I’d never seen before.  I think he might’ve been the Charlatan,” Umi answered, refilling Shena’s drink before grabbing a cloth and wiping down the bar.  

“Anything’s possible,” he replied, sharing a look with his wife.  “Hear anything?”

“Only that they’re meeting someone at Spirit’s Ledge,” the asari replied.

“Thanks, Umi,” Shena smiled at the other woman, bringing up her ‘tool to transfer a decent stack of credits the bartender’s way.

“I’d love to know how you got this much to throw around,” the asari’s voice was hushed, “but I’m not complaining either.  Just remember, you didn’t hear any of this from me.”

“Hear it from who?”  The look on Shena’s face was pure innocence on a fallen angel’s visage.  “I sincerely have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about… honest,” she deadpanned.  Reyes snorted out a laugh beside her.

“I bet you keep him on his toes, don’t you?” Umi smirked.

“Among other things.  Enjoy the tip,” Shena knocked back her second drink then strode out of the bar, leaving her husband and some of the others watching the sway of her hips.

“Damn, if she wasn’t your woman…”  Umi sighed, earning a grin from the smuggler across from her.  

Reyes looked down at his ‘tool as it pinged.  Tossing back his own drink, he left, eyes focused on the message in front of him.

_Anubis,_

_I’ll check out Spirit’s Ledge.  You look into the salarian contact.  Sound good?_

_~Raven_

Looking around, he found his wife over at one of the armorers, sketching out an idea, probably for EDI’s clothing.  Skirting around the crowds, he headed toward the lift that would take him back down to the slums, and typed out his own response.

_Raven,_

_Sounds like a plan.  Do I even want to know where you got the money that had Umi’s eyes widening at the tip you gave her?_

_~Anubis_

After an exchange of creds and a promise that the outfits should be completed within the space of a week, Shena looked down at her husband’s reply.

_A._

_Back pay, and a lot of it, for the last 600+ years, since it’s not like I was dead, just frozen.  You’re married to an incredibly wealthy woman.  My asari friend invested it for me, and quite wisely.  To put it bluntly, I could fund the Initiative on my own at this point, if I wanted to, which I don’t._

_~R_

His eyes widened at her response.  If he wanted to retire from smuggling altogether, he could.  Hell, the two of them could even set themselves up pretty back in the Milky Way if they wanted, though knowing them, it would probably end up being on Omega.  Both of them had a strong attachment to that place, but that was a discussion for another day.  Even with her revelation, there was still Sloane to take care of, and he didn’t leave shit half done if he could help it.

Sitting down on the couch inside his room on the upper floor of Tartarus, he pulled a few datapads over to him and started rifling through contacts to see if he could find out who this mysterious salarian was.  He had his job while his wife would be out checking out the area Umi had mentioned.  Looking up as the woman he was thinking about walked in and wordlessly changed out of her civs into her armor, her demeanor all business, he went back to work, stopping only when she came over to kiss his cheek before she left.

* * *

EDI scanned the area to see if she could find the location of the electronic source keeping them locked out of the drop location Shena had found from the information she’d gathered.  Catching the source, she shut down the signal then made her way over to her friend.

Shena picked up the datapad that was revealed when the barrier dissipated.  Scanning its contents, she uploaded the data to her ‘tool and extrapolated the coordinates of the warehouse the cargo had been hidden.  Typing in a series of codes, she was rewarded by her husband’s face on her ‘tool’s vid screen.

“Hey, babe, got the location of your cargo.  Looks like the Spirit’s Ledge spot was nothing more than a dead drop.  Smart, considering what you’ve told me about Sloane and the cut she takes out of everything sold ‘legitimately’ through the port.  Uploading the coordinates to you.”

“Hmm, that’s just up in the mountains not too far from here.  I’ll head up, scope the place out.  Meet me there?”

“Just be careful.  We don’t know what Zia has up her sleeve.  For all we know, it’s a trap to get you back for not being interested.”

“I wouldn’t put it past her,” Reyes sighed.  “I’ll watch my back, though I’d rather watch yours.”  He waggled his brows at her, making her chuckle.

“A case of ‘hate to see you go but love to watch you leave’, love?”

“Of course,” he grinned, then saluted her.  “See you soon.”

* * *

She found him inside the building, a frown tugging at his lips.  With EDI’s help, she scanned all the crates, coming up with the same thing he had probably already noticed - they were all empty.

“Over here, Shena.”

“I have a bad feeling about this.  Anyone else would probably think the deal had already completed, but that’s not what my gut is saying.”

“I’m thinking you’re right, that there was never any cargo to begin with,” Reyes snarled, kicking at the empty crate in front of him.

“Bravo!  I knew you’d figure it out eventually.”

Shena and Reyes turned toward the newest voice.  Reyes had to fight back a shiver at the ice that had entered his wife’s eyes.  Outside of the day he’d rescued her from Akuze, he’d never actually seen her in action.  They’d never been assigned together, and if they hadn’t met that one fateful night on Arcturus that had started the ball rolling between them, she’d have just been another soldier he’d picked up from a hot zone.

“Zia,” he spat out, anger stiffening his spine.

“The others swore the plan was too simple, that you’d never be taken in, but I knew better.  You never could refuse a big payout,” the redhead smirked, planting her hands on her hips and cocking one to the side.

“What can I say, I’m a greedy man,” Reyes replied, watching her every move.

“Overconfident bitch,” Shena muttered, drawing the other woman’s eyes to her.  

“Oh you have no idea, sweetheart,” Zia purred, her attention returning back to Reyes.  “And this is why you have no friends.  You’re selfish.”

“He’s a better man than you give him credit for, you French tart,” Shena snarled.

“Honey, he’s really got you wrapped around his finger, doesn’t he?  You have no idea how wrong you are, but you will,” the female smuggler laughed.

“Leave her out of this!”

“Oh you must really like this one.  Surprised, actually.  Was starting to think you were some sort of eunuch.”

“Cut the shit.  What’s this all about, Zia?” Reyes hissed.

“I don’t take no from any man.  Between that and you taking all the good smuggling jobs on Kadara, hell in all of Heleus, some friends and I decided to teach you a lesson.”

“So, what?  The local smuggling union decided to take me out?”

“That’s one way to put it.”

“Shit!” Reyes ground the word out, raising a hand to rub his forehead.

“Lady, you’ve fucked with the wrong man.  It’s not him you need to worry about but the wife who supports him,” Shena stalked up to Zia, the fire in the smuggler’s gaze meeting the ice in hers.

“Wife?  Oh that’s rich,” Zia laughed.

“N7 trained, Omega born and raised.  Say hello to Commander Shepard, Zia,” Reyes snickered.

“Bullshit,” the French woman spat.  “She’s dead.”

“Think back to the ads for the Alliance that played constantly on Earth and the Citadel after she ‘died’,” Reyes replied.  “You couldn’t take a step without her face blasted in front of you.”

Zia took a moment and studied the woman standing next to Reyes.  The cold, calculating look in the eyes that stared back at her, the aura that spoke of a well trained biotic, and the militaristic stature that was etched into the way she carried herself.

“Saren didn’t stand a chance against me.  If neither he nor his matriarch friend could take me down, what makes you think you can?” Shena snapped, a blue corona surrounding her as she readied her biotics.

“Oh shit…” Recognizing the truth behind the words, the smuggler started to back up until she found herself thrown to the far end of the room and caught up by a strong stasis field.  At Shena’s aggressive action, the rest of the woman’s squad poured in but soon found themselves trapped by a singularity.  Hitting the one closest to the center with a powerful warp mnemonic, the entire troupe expired within moments, the biotic explosion wiping them out, leaving only Zia left to deal with.

“She’s all yours, love,” Shena wiped her hands together, letting go of the stasis field.  The look of terror on the woman’s face as the two of them stalked over to her was almost worth all the hurt Zia had tried to levy on her husband.  “I think she’s about to piss her pants, though.  Might want to take care of things before she embarasses herself further.”

Letting out a bark of laughter, Reyes aimed his pistol at Zia, ignoring the woman’s babbling apologies and pleas to let her live, and shot her between the eyes.  “Remind me never to piss you off.  You’re freakishly scary when you’re angry, love.  Hell, you could probably take out an entire kett battalion with your biotics.”

“You don’t fuck with the people I love, simple as that.  Hope you didn’t mind me doing all the work back there.  I had some steam I needed to blow off, and it let me test out the new amp that I was fitted with before leaving the Milky Way.  Damn it felt good.”

“They’re dead, and we’re still alive.  Hell no, I don’t mind,” Reyes replied, walking over to his wife and pulling her into his arms, resting his cheek on the top of her head.  “I can’t believe she did that out of spite.”

“You’re sexy, confident in yourself, and have the sensual gait of a feline predator.  Plus there’s that accent of yours.  I can see why she wanted to hit it.”  

“Ahh, but nothing compares to you, my tiny, perfect package of love and laughter, sass and dynamite.”

Grinning like an idiot, Shena linked her arm with her husband's. “Well then.  Shall we head back to Tartarus?  I’ll send EDI back to the ship in the hybrid and catch a ride with you.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

  


 


	9. High Noon

_ It's down on me _

_ Yeah I got to tell you one thing _

_ It's been on my mind _

_ Girl I gotta say _

_ We're partners in crime _

_ You got that certain something _

_ What you give to me _

_ Takes my breath away _

_ Now the word out on the street _

_ Is the devil's in your kiss _

_ If our love goes up in flames _

_ It's a fire I can't resist _

_ ~Cryin’ - Aerosmith _

  
  


“Councilors, while I respect your request…”

Reyes scowled, wishing the house had a door he could actually slam.  Most of the members of the Milky Way Council had been on his wife’s ass almost constantly the past month, trying to talk her into either taking up her duties within Heleus.  If not that, at least train and induct others into a Heleus branch of the Spectres, or come back to the Milky Way and resume her status there.

“With all due respect, Commander…” the salarian councilor began.

“If you have to call me by a rank, use the right fucking one,” Shena snapped.  “It’s Admiral, retired, thank you very much!  And take that last part into consideration.  I’m retired!  Please stop hounding me, or I’ll revert to hanging up on you as I did the last council I worked with.”

“But your assistance would be such an asset, both to us, and to your fellows within the Andromeda galaxy,” the asari councilor stated, trying to be the voice of reason.

“Don’t you think she’s done enough?” the krogan councilor interjected, earning a slight smile from Shena.  “My father brought me up with tales of what she’s gone through, what she’s done for all of us.  I think she deserves the chance to live out the rest of her life as she sees fit.”

“My thanks, Urdnot Vanna.  Please give your father and husband my warmest regards,” Shena smiled.  “Wrex and Grunt were instrumental in so much of what I accomplished.”

“You have a responsibility to the people, to  _ your _ people,” the human ambassador ground out.

“Shit, you’re sounding a bit too much like that douchebag Udina who I had the extreme pleasure of killing,” she sneered, earning a look of pure hatred from the man.  “I do not have a responsibility to anyone other than myself and my husband.  What part of retired do you not understand?”

“I must agree with Urdnot Vanna,” the turian councilor stated, interrupting whatever the human councilor had planned on saying.  “She took down a rogue Spectre.  Died in service but yet came back to remove the Collector threat from human colonies.  And were it not for her and her crew, we would have been destroyed by the reapers.  Had they won, we sure as hell wouldn’t be sitting here as friends to the krogan, let alone have one on the council.”

“I propose a compromise.”  The asari councilor held up a hand to halt any further comments from all parties.  “We’ll list Shepard among our retired agents, with the condition that if she decides to come back to the Milky Way and be reinstated, she shall be without prejudice.”

Reyes watched his wife, tension in every fiber of his body, hoping the rest of the council could let this line of thought disappear.  As the krogan and turian councilors had stated, his wife had done more than her fair share for the galaxy and deserved the chance to rest.  He let out a breath, relaxing at the smile that curved his wife’s lips.

“That is a concession I can work with.  However, I would like this in writing and signed.  A contract is a contract, is it not?  And that is what this is, correct?”  Shena asked, looking at those on the vidcomm in front of her.

“I, too, agree with this,” the turian councilor nodded his head toward Shena.

“As do I.  I will also work on drafting up a copy of the document for us all to sign,” Urdnot Vanna smiled towards the now officially retired Spectre.  The salarian councilor spluttered and threw up her hands, but otherwise remained quiet.  The human councilor silently glared at Shepard, his arms folded tight over his chest.

“Much appreciated,” Shena thanked those in front of her.  “It’s been a pleasure, councilors.  If there’s nothing else, my husband has returned home, and we have plans to relax with a vid.  Good evening to you all.”

Closing out the connection, she turned toward Reyes.  Before she could blink, she found herself in his arms, swept into a comforting hug.  Snuggling into his warmth, she rested her cheek against his chest, letting the beat of his heart soothe her.

“Finally.  I was wondering when that shitshow would decide to leave you alone,” he murmured, running his fingers through her hair.

“Mmm,” she replied, burrowing closer.

“Headache?” he asked.

“Always, with them.”

Reyes massaged his fingers over her scalp and up to her temples, then down to her neck.  Soon she felt the tension draining away and the pain dissolving.  Sliding her hands up under his shirt so she could touch the bare skin of his back, she relaxed, letting out a sigh of contentment.

“So tonight’s the night, hmm?” Shena asked a few moments later.

“Yes.  Ryder has agreed to meet up and be my ‘plus one’ at Sloane’s party.  Gives him a chance to see and be seen.”

“Just make sure to grab, if not both bottles of the Mount Milgrom I found in her shipping manifest, at least one of them.  We’re going to need something to toast with once this is all over.”

“And those Outcasts you weeded out?” Reyes inquired.

“All set and ready to go.  They’re looking forward to getting back at their leadership after all the shit people have gone through around here.”

“You sure they’re trustworthy?”

“Most definitely.  You could see it in their eyes, their body language, that they don’t agree with what Sloane and Kaetus are doing.  They only joined up with the Outcasts to keep their families safe and fed, and instead ended up as part of a regime that beats the downtrodden and enslaves them with drugs.  They want out,” she answered.

Reyes pulled back a step and she lifted her face to look into his eyes.

“So what’s the plan?” he asked.

“Kaetus always does the rounds before putting the safehouse on lockdown.  When he heads to his office near the docks, they’ll be waiting.  Plus, it seems a few of the port guards have planned their own party since they weren’t invited to Sloane’s.  I’ll be waiting in the wings as back-up.”

“And once he’s out, we’ll pin our little message to him and leave him for Sloane.  This time tomorrow, she’ll be out of the picture and Kadara will be ours.”  His smile lit up his face.  Unable to help herself, she leaned up and kissed him, finding herself yanked against his hard body as he took advantage of her mouth.  Drowning in the taste and scent of him, the kiss heated up quickly, leaving them breathless.

“As much as I’d love to continue the party with you, my dear, I do have to get ready to meet up with our pal, Ryder,” Reyes said a bit gruffly, breaking the kiss.

“Don’t have too much fun without me,” she snickered, smacking his ass at the wink he gave her as he walked back to the bedroom to shower and change.

* * *

The stage was set.  The renegade Outcasts had played their part well and had been whisked away to safety after Kaetus had been taken care of.  The Charlatan’s message, from all accounts, had been received loud and clear.  The cave in Draullir was empty save for Reyes, Shena, EDI, and a couple of Reyes’ trusted lieutenants.

Her footsteps silent as a ghost’s, Shena moved to a well hidden outcropping of rock where she’d have the perfect vantage point over the entire area.  

“Someone’s approaching,” EDI stated, her voice low.

Taking a look through the scope of her Black Widow, Shena let out a soft curse.  “Sloane has your boy Ryder with her, along with what I can only guess are a couple of his crew mates.  Ones I haven’t met yet - an old as fuck krogan if his chin fossils are any indication, and a male human.”

“Shit,” her husband hissed.

“EDI, tighten up my cloak and see what you can do to shield the others.  SAM is nowhere near as powerful as you but I don’t want to take any chances,” she muttered through her comm, keeping careful aim on Kadara’s self appointed ruler while the group came closer.

“Done,” EDI’s voice came through over her comm.  Flicking her eyes over toward her husband, she caught his subtle nod.  Peering back through the scope, she relaxed her body, made sure the rifle was steady, and rested her finger on the trigger.

“You look like you’re waiting for somebody,” Reyes voice echoed throughout the space with him following his words out of the shadows.

“Reyes?”  Confusion was quite evident in Ryder’s voice.

“I’m here for the Charlatan, not some third rate smuggler,” Sloane sneered.  Shena bit back a snort at how well the woman had been played.

“They’re one and the same,” Scott’s voice hardened when the truth became evident.  

“Surprise!”  Reyes smirked.

Shena tuned out the rest of the conversation, her focus split between her husband and Sloane, waiting for his signal.  He didn’t get the chance to use their agreed upon code, as Sloane’s pistol came up in a flash.  Not taking any chances, she pulled the trigger, aim perfect, perforating the woman’s armor right at the heart.

“Bang!”

Not bothering to hide her snort this time, she shook her head, laughing.

“Cheesy love, very cheesy,” she snickered over their shared comm, catching a subtle grin quirking her husband’s lips when he heard her comment.

“Get that trash out of here and prepare the crew.  Kadara Port is ours tonight!”

As Reyes barked out orders to his lieutenants, she packed up her rifle, remaining cloaked, and crept closer to Ryder, curious as to his reaction to the whole situation.

“Dammit, SAM, how did you not detect that sniper?” the Pathfinder hissed.  His crew kept glancing warily around the cavern.

“Unknown, Scott.  I was unable to detect any heat signature in the area the rifle shot came from nor am I able to sense where they may have disappeared to.”

“Another AI of a sort?  Doubt a VI.  They wouldn’t have that kind of a bloody quick response,” Liam muttered.

“Good question, kid,” Drack huffed out.  “What kind of AI would be smarter than the Pathfinder’s SAM?  Makes you wonder about that Overlord shit that Knight person was talking about.”

“Guys, head back to the Nomad.  I’m going to talk to Reyes.  See what the fuck this was all about.”

“If that sniper is still around, be careful.  We don’t know if they’re friend or foe,” Liam said, slapping Scott on the shoulder.

“Oh believe me, I’m going to have a word with the  _ Charlatan _ about that as well,” Ryder growled.

Watching Ryder trot away from his squad, Shena slipped away herself, heading to the side of the cave where EDI was waiting for her.

“Keep an eye on Reyes.  Ryder’s pissed.  I’m going to get the shuttle ready.”

“Will do, Shena.  Do you need anything?”

“Nope, I’m good,” she answered.  “Guys, shuttle will be in place in approximately five minutes.  Get your shit and be ready for lift-off.  Reyes that means you too.”

* * *

She ended up having to wait ten minutes for Reyes to show after the talking to he’d received from Ryder.  Luckily he was able to get the kid to see eye to eye with him in regards to his reasoning behind taking out Sloane, but understandably the young man was a bit disgruntled over the fact that Reyes hadn’t trusted him with the plan.  The two of them sat in companionable silence in Reyes’ room atop Tartarus, Shena’s booted feet draped over her husband’s lap, her back snug against the armrest, while she scrolled through the paperwork she’d been sent by the Council.  Reyes busied himself with resistance requests, tossing a few job ideas her way for when she wasn’t crossing her eyes with the legalese of the Spectre contract.

“Reyes, your favorite people are on their way to see you,” Kian snorted through the comm.  Shena gave her husband a sideways glance then went back to reading her ‘tool. 

“Do I need to move?” she asked.

“Stay where you are.  He’ll have to get used to seeing the two of us together, anyway.  Especially now that he did whatever it was to the remnant monoliths and the sulphur is clearing out quickly enough to make the place safer for an Initiative outpost.”

“Good.  I’m too comfortable to even scoot my butt an inch and I’m afraid if I do, I’ll lose my place in this godawful novel they sent me.  Why couldn’t they just have worded it as succinctly as they did when we were talking over the vid?” she griped.

“Because then it wouldn’t sound as impressive?” he chuckled.

“Bleh,” she replied, just as the door hissed open to admit entry to their newest visitors.

“Another new flavor, Reyes?” Ryder asked from the doorway, leading Drack and Liam inside, clearly not recognizing the woman relaxing with the smuggler.

“I find I’m quite picky about the flavors I choose,” Reyes winked at the younger man, earning a snort from his wife.

“Oh cut the cheese, will ya?” Shena rolled her eyes, finally getting to the end of the contract and signing it, sending it back off to the powers that be of the Milky Way galaxy.  Glancing up at the snigger of laughter coming from the other human male, she winked at him then focused her gaze on Ryder.  Smirking a bit when it finally dawned on him that the punk looking woman he was seeing now was the same sex kitten he had met a month or so prior, if the widening of his eyes was any indication, she shut down her ‘tool, waiting for either him or Reyes to speak first.

“Actually, if it’s the same to all of you, I’d really appreciate it if nobody cut the cheese.  I’ve hit the privy after both of these guys and let me tell you, that shit ain’t pretty,” the fresh faced crisis response agent replied instead, surprising a loud guffaw out of Shena.

“Oh god,” she gasped, holding her stomach.  “I can just imagine.  I’ve been around krogan before, and if you even make mention of it, especially after they’ve had a nice snack of korkro roots, they give you the stink-eye.”

“S-Stink eye,” Liam stuttered out a laugh.  “That’s bloody p-perfect!”

“If you’re finished making fun of our digestive tracts, why don’t we get on with the reason why we’re here,” Drack huffed, crossing his arms over his massive chest.

“Yeah, besides, the worst perpetrator we have on the ship actually has to be the pyjack,” Ryder scowled, his cheeks turning a bit pink.

Reyes’ lips quirked as he held his laughter in, though between his wife and Liam, the tension that had been there when the Pathfinder’s crew had entered was quite shattered.  Perhaps that would make this next discussion that much easier.

“Getting on to business, if any of you mind?” he cut in.

“Yeah, about that,” Scott piped up, “surprised to see you down here instead of up on Sloane’s old throne.  A bit shabby otherwise, for Kadara’s new leader, don’t you think?”

“Ahh, Ryder, you know I prefer to rule from the shadows.  So does my lovely companion,” Reyes replied, grabbing Shena’s hand and kissing her knuckles.

Rolling her eyes, she groaned at his overly dramatic gesture, though she couldn’t help the smile that creased her lips.

“Well, you are a shady bastard, though I don’t know her well enough to comment.”

“Wait, Ryder, isn’t this the woman Cora was so hot under the collar about?  Something about being a floozy or tart…?”  Liam flushed at the look the Pathfinder gave him, then looked over at Shena.  “Sorry.”

“No harm,” she replied, shrugging.  “You see a person dressed a certain way, you tend to make assumptions.  Sometimes those assumptions work in my favor, sometimes they don’t.  I’m perfectly fine leaving her in the dark a while longer.  Got a good chuckle out of it, to be honest.”

Sighing, Reyes lifted his gaze to the ceiling overhead as if asking for guidance, though a laugh rumbled in his chest.  “I’m sure you remember Keema Dohrgun who I introduced you to at Sloane’s little party.  She’s agreed to be the face of Kadara Port.  And, if you’re still interested, with Sloane gone, there is a place for the Initiative here.”

“I’ll see what I can do to round up volunteers, but it might not be easy.  You exiles have a bit of a reputation,” Ryder snickered. 

“Hey, we’re not  _ all _ thieves and murderers.  I am, but some of the others are perfectly nice.”

Ryder rolled his eyes in response.  “Perfectly.”

Sighing, Shena poked her husband in his side.  “Jokes aside, we want this outpost as much as you do.  It might be a great way to help heal the wounds between the exiles and the Nexus.”

“If you don’t mind me saying so, you don’t come off exactly as an exile like some of the others around here,” Ryder directed at her.

“I’m as much of one as my husband is.  As in I wasn’t kicked off the station but I can’t stomach Tann and Addison.  I probably would have gotten kicked off the station if I hadn’t left on my own.  Fucking ass munching idiots,” she sighed.

“Wait, husband?”  Ryder looked between the two of them.

“Married a few years before the Initiative left.  With all the shit that happened on the Nexus, I ended up overlooked even though I’m also a pilot, so I was defrosted not too long before you and I ‘met’ on the lift down here to the slums, so to speak.”

“Damn, so you two got stuck apart for over a year, probably, before they realized you were still a popsicle,” Liam shook his head.  

“Something like that, but back to what we were talking about.  Do you have a plot picked out for the Initiative site?  I can guarantee we’ll do what’s in our power to keep the outpost safe from any Outcasts left over on Kadara, along with your basic exiles hanging out in the badlands,” she looked over to the Pathfinder.

“Actually, yeah I do,” he replied, pulling up a map on his omni-tool.  Reflecting it onto the table in front of them, he marked the site location he had in mind.  Shena and Reyes studied the map, exchanged glances, then looked up at Scott.

“Looks good, Ryder,” Reyes leaned back against the couch, pillowing his head on his hands.  “Once you have the residential blocks inbound, let me know, and I’ll see about getting you some help out there with set-up.”

“What, not going to ask for anything in return?”  Scott asked.

“Other than maybe seeing if any of the interested exiles can work at the outpost, no.  I’m not Sloane.  I’m not going to ask for protection fees or for a cut of anything that you do out there.  Like my wife said, this is a way to build bridges, yes?”

Scott walked over to where Reyes and Shena sat and extended his hand.  Reyes shook first, then Shena, cementing the alliance between the three of them.  All in all, it had been a very good day.

 


	10. Captured

_ 'Cause I don't wanna lose you now _

_ I'm looking right at the other half of me _

_ The vacancy that sat in my heart _

_ Is a space that now you hold _

_ Show me how to fight for now _

_ And I'll tell you, baby, it was easy _

_ Coming back into you once I figured it out _

_ You were right here all along _

_ It's like you're my mirror _

_ My mirror staring back at me _

_ I couldn't get any bigger _

_ With anyone else beside of me _

_ And now it's clear as this promise _

_ That we're making two reflections into one _

_ 'Cause it's like you're my mirror _

_ My mirror staring back at me, staring back at me _

_ ~Mirrors - Justin Timberlake _

  
  


Shena stood near the window overlooking the canyon, her eyes closed, body swaying, as she danced the bow over the strings of her violin.  The music had a haunting, yet hopeful quality.  The strains of music filtered throughout the abode.  Stepping out of the bathroom, fresh from the shower, Reyes watched his wife as she lost herself to the music and felt his heart swell at the sight of her.  The last few weeks had been almost dream-like, they were so surprisingly domestic, even with their duties to Kadara.  After the  _ Normandy _ had gone down, he’d given up on ever having this kind of happiness and to have her walk back into his life, things snapped together as if they’d never been apart, it was so natural.  They had gotten into what may be a boring routine to others, but their mornings were spent with them sharing breakfast together before heading to Tartarus.  Sometimes the day was spent just going over contracts and checking on the status of Ditaeon (his wife got a good snort of laughter at the name Tate had given the outpost); others days, one or both of them were doing a smuggling run or gathering information for the resistance.  He was actually quite surprised at how quickly Evfra had taken to his wife, though perhaps it was the authority in her voice and actions that had impressed the angaran.  Evenings saw the two of them having dinner together before curling up in front of the vid unit and watching something from his wife’s extensive movie collection before they found themselves in bed.  Most nights they tore at the sheets, but the nights where they just curled up into each other before drifting off felt just as intimate, if not more so.

Picking up his guitar, he made himself comfortable on the couch nearby and began picking the strings, harmonizing to the tune she was playing.  The smile that curved her lips mirrored the one on his own when their music intertwined and merged into something almost otherworldly.  It was as if their music put to tune what was in their hearts at finally having this chance to build a life together.

The song coming to a close, he got up and replaced his guitar on its stand, taking her violin and bow as she handed them to him and putting them away as well.  Coming up behind her, he pulled her back against him and rested his cheek against her temple, the two of them swaying to the spirit of the music they’d been playing.  Eyes closed he just let himself relax into the moment.  There were times he still found it difficult to believe she was there with him and worried that one of these days he’d wake up and realize it was just a dream.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Shena asked, her voice hushed in the deepening twilight, the two of them enjoying the moment too much to turn on a light.

“Mmm, wondering when karma’s going to bite my ass and wake me up from this dream and I’ll find out you’re not here at all,” he answered, placing a kiss against her temple.

Lacing her fingers with his, her smile was a bit sad.  “We’ve lost so much time, but I’m here, Reyes.  I’m not going anywhere.  This isn’t a dream.  Believe me, I fought hard to return to you, and I have no intentions of leaving.  It would hurt me just as much if I were to wake up from this and find out none of this was true.”  

Turning in his arms so she could wrap her arms around his waist, Shena lay her head over his heart.  “That’s not the only thing bothering you, Reyes.  What’s going on?”

“I’m leaving tomorrow to meet up with Evfra - our first real face to face meeting, and on Aya no less.”

“Which wasn’t bothering you before…”

Reyes sighed and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.  “I got a call when I was getting out of the shower.  Kaetus escaped, which means you’ll need to stay here and keep an eye on things while I handle things with our angaran friend.”

“Shit,” Shena hissed.  “We’ll need to up security around Ditaeon in case he gets a hair up his ass to attack the outpost.  And if he knows Sloane was out there with Ryder when she died, we’ll need to make sure he has a security detail as well.  He may have some experience with all he’s done as Pathfinder, but he’s still incredibly green.”

“And this is why I’m asking you to stay behind.  Keep EDI with you too.  Your experience is better to handle this than mine is.”

“No go, sweetie.  EDI would be useless that far away from the ship.  She is only able to operate within a specific tight beam radius from it, which means basically having the ship orbiting Kadara and her on the ground.  Moment you go out of the system, she’d shut down.”

“What about your geth?” he asked.

“Optimus is a huge ass Prime.  You think he wouldn’t be noticed?  And then people would really be giving me sideways looks wondering why the fuck I’m roaming around with a geth at my beck and call.”

“Dammit,” Reyes muttered, his shoulders slumping.

“I’ll be fine.  Like you said, I have the experience for this.  I haven’t risen to the rank of Admiral just because they liked how the cut of the uniform flattered my figure.”

Reyes snorted out a laugh.  “You’re right, and I trust you.  Just keep in contact while I’m gone, will you?  It’ll take a couple of weeks round trip, plus the couple of days I’ll be in meetings.”

“Of course.  I promise not to burn the whole place down before you get back home,” she laughed, tilting her face towards his for a kiss.

* * *

Shit, shit, shit.  Reyes was going to kill her.  EDI was going to kill her.  Hell her friends in the Milky Way were going to find out and travel to Andromeda to kill her.  She could hear Joker cackling in her head for her use of his favorite word.  She could imagine Vega calling her Lola in a sad, disapproving voice because she should’ve been better than this.  Garrus was bitching at her for not having had someone along to watch her six.

Shena didn’t even want to know how many people had possibly been tortured and/or killed in this place.  The shack was small and if the way it rocked when the winds gusted outside, it was hanging over some sort of precipice, probably something similar to what Reyes had done with their home.  The walls were coated in old blood.  There were no windows to help her gauge what time of day it was or how long she’d been in this place, and the few lights were old rusted out pieces of junk that flickered in and out because of shorts in the wires.

The fingers in her right hand throbbed.  At least three of them were broken.  Her head swam, the pain difficult to think through.  Possibly her eye socket was fractured.  She knew she had a few cracked ribs which could also be part of why her head was swimming - she couldn’t catch a deep enough breath without pain streaking through her chest.  

She’d admit she had been a bit of an idiot.  Christmas had invited her out to do another tour of the outpost to see how well the exile volunteers were working with the Initiative scientists.  While there, her ‘tool had pinged, signalling that her program had found a hit on Kaetus.  She’d already hacked into the correspondence of one of his moles inside the port and found out he had plans for Ryder.  The turian blamed the Pathfinder for Sloane’s death.  She had no intentions of letting him go after an innocent, since Scott had no clue of what was going to happen inside that cave, no way of saving Sloane if he’d been given a chance to.  When she’d received notification that Kaetus and some of his crew had holed up in the buildings where the murdered krogan had been found, she decided to go on the offensive.  It wasn’t that far of a walk from the outpost, and she wasn’t about to drive up and announce her presence.

On the upside, she took out most of his men.  A few well placed biotic explosions leveled the two story pre-fab that had been, at one time, a safe haven for those kicked out of the slums, until Ryder had found out the leader was the one behind the murders of the angaran settlement further north.  Unfortunately, while she was busy clearing out the krogan’s old demesne, Kaetus had snuck behind her and cracked her good on the side of her head with the butt of his pistol.

She knew better than to go alone, but who could she trust to go with her?  She wasn’t about to ask anyone from the outpost - most of them were scientists.  Reyes had just arrived on Aya so she couldn’t ask him, and she sure as hell wasn’t going to ask the kid she was trying to keep safe from this person bent on revenge.

Her head exploded with pain.  Cracking open her right eye, the only one not currently blackened or swollen shut, she blinked at the turian in front of her.  She could feel blood trickling out of her nose and from the left corner of her mouth.  Kaetus had drawn his hand back, readying himself to hit her again, until he noticed her looking at him.

“Damn, bitch, you sure can handle a lot of pain.  I’m surprised.  Most humans, by now, would be blubbering in their seats or pissing their pants from it.  If you weren’t keeping me from the kid responsible for Sloane’s death, I’d almost say you reminded me of her.”

Shena barked out a hoarse laugh, the pain in her face not deterring her from smirking.

“What else would you expect from an N7 trained operative, not to mention the first human Spectre?” she quipped.  “I’m no fucking pansy.”

“You’re trying to tell me you’re Commander Shepard?  I don’t believe it, though maybe I do believe the N7 bit.  It would explain your pain tolerance.  So where’s Ryder?”

“Why would I know where he is?  Besides, he’s not responsible for the self imposed queen’s death.  He had no fucking clue what would happen in that cave.  If someone dangerous needs to be taken out, you use a professional.  I’m that professional.”

Her head snapped back from the force of the blow, a crack echoing in the small room.  Now her head was really throbbing.  Damn, she could feel her jaw out of place.  This was going to make shit tricky.

“Oh you’re dead, bitch.”

“Keep thinking that, if you’d like,” she hissed out as best as she could.

* * *

“What do you mean, you don’t know where she went?  Her hybrid is parked right here!” Reyes barked at Christmas.

“I meant what I said.  I don’t know!  I was giving her a tour so she could check in with the exiles.  Next thing I knew, her omni-tool was going off, and she excused herself.  That was the last time I saw hide or hair of her and that was over a week ago,” the older man growled.

“Shit!” The smuggler paced the small confines of Christmas’ office, his mouth opening to continue on with his questioning, then snapped shut when the AI began to talk.

“Mr. Vidal, I believe I’ve found a distress call sent out to Kaetus in regards to a female biotic attacking the compound that originated not too far from here,” EDI interrupted.  Reyes sprinted toward his shuttle, EDI following right behind.  The trip took only a couple of minutes, Reyes letting out a low whistle at the damage Shena had left behind.  

“She really went to town on these assholes,” he murmured as he got out of the shuttle.  Walking around something glinted in the light and he bent down to get a better look.  His breath caught in his chest when he picked up his wife’s dog tags, her engagement ring tossing out prisms of light when the diamond hit the sun’s rays just right.

“Shena wouldn’t have left without this.  Dammit!  EDI, see if you can get a lock on her or something.  I’m not losing my wife again!  I wasn’t able to save her the first time, but this time…” His chest heaved and he fought down the urge to gag.

“One moment,” EDI requested, the two of them getting back into the shuttle and into the air.  “I was able to find a faint signal in the Spirits Ledge region,” she stated, minutes later, as Reyes took his time flying through the different regions of the badlands.  

“Show me,” he ordered.  EDI input a set of coordinates into the shuttles nav computer.  Reyes flew them close to the shack, but far enough away to keep them out of notice.  There was some decent activity around the tiny shack Shena was being held in, enough that he knew neither him nor EDI could take on by themselves.  Slamming a fist against his thigh, he took them back to the slums and strode upstairs to his room inside Tartarus.  Punching a code into his vid comm unit, he waited for an answer.

“Reyes?  The fuck?”  Ryder appeared on screen, hair mussed, sounding like he had just woken up.

“How far are you from the Govorkam system?  I need some help,” Reyes snarled, raking his hands through his hair as he paced the length of the room.

“According to Kallo, just landed at the port.  Been waiting for hours for a space to clear so we could land, so Gil and I decided to sleep in.  Why, what’s up?”

“Kaetus fucking escaped, and I think he’s holding my wife hostage.  There’s too many of his Outcast thugs surrounding the area for me to take on.  I know I could gather some people within the Collective, but you’re a face Shena will recognize immediately if I can’t get to her first.”

Scott’s body straightened, his gaze becoming sharp and clear.  “I’ll bring the entire squad.  Meet you in Tartarus in fifteen minutes.  Between the Nomad and your shuttle, we should be good.”

“Thank you, Ryder, you have no idea how much this means to me.  I don’t know how I can ever repay you.”

“I think free drinks on Kadara for myself and my crew  from this point on will suffice.”

* * *

She’d had enough.  She would have found a way to get out from under Kaetus’ thumb earlier, but with the number of Outcast thugs in the area, she knew she wouldn’t have been able to get far, not in her condition.  But now, now she might have a chance.  Shena could hear gunfire outside and feel the twists in the air that signaled when a biotic detonation was about to go off.  

“What the hell…” Kaetus turned toward the door.

“Your shit’s about to get fucked up,” she snickered, eyes watering in pain from moving her jaw.  When Kaetus turned back toward her, her body flared up with biotic energy and she kept pulling it to her, glowing a brighter and brighter blue.  The turian’s mandibles flared then tightened against him in fear.  She almost cackled when he ran toward the door, but it was taking all her concentration to pull as much power as she knew she’d need and not pass out from the pain her body was generating.

* * *

Shooting an Outcast _ puta _ between the eyes who had come running toward him, Reyes didn’t stop as he stalked toward the tiny outbuilding EDI had pinpointed Shena’s signal as coming from.  Ryder and his squad seemed to be having the time of their lives clearing out the small army that Kaetus had gathered to him.  His only focus was the signal behind that door.

As he came up on the walkway, the turian in question came running out of the shack, eyes wide with terror.  Moments later, he understood why.  The building exploded from pure biotic energy and his wife exited the remains.  The knot in his stomach grew bigger at the visible damage she had suffered at Kaetus’ hands, though before he could raise his pistol to shoot, she had lifted the turian into the air.  Using one last biotic surge, she hit him with an incredibly powerful flare, raining chunks of turian into the valley below.

Jogging up to her, Ryder and his squad coming up behind, Reyes rested his hand gently on her back.  She had the railing in a white knuckled grip, her chest heaving with every breath she took.  He could hear grinding coming from her body, could hear the air whistling in and out of her lungs, and it was that which kept him from scooping her up as he wanted to.  He didn’t want to take any chance of injuring her further.

“Shena?  Love?  You gonna be okay?”

“Fuuuck, I feel like I went on a major bender…” she panted, her knuckles growing whiter as she gripped the railing harder, then proceeded to puke over the side of the railing.  “Think my amp’s blown to shit.”

“Can you walk back to the shuttle?”

“Mmmm… nope.  Everything’s all shiny and spinny, like real spinny…” she slurred, her eyes rolling to the back of her head.  Reyes caught her when she started to go down, and he threw a panicked look over in Ryder’s direction.

“Cora, get her in some sort of stasis.  She looks bad and we might need to keep her stable.  Reyes, we’ll need you to fly us back to the docks and we’ll get her onto the Tempest so Lexi can look her over.  I’ll radio ahead so she knows to expect us,” Ryder ordered, taking charge.

“Hey, what about that Dr. Nakamoto, or whatever his name is, who set up shop right by Tartarus?  Having two docs looking at her couldn’t hurt, right?” Liam piped up, concern evident in his gentle gaze while he watched Cora carefully place Shena in stasis and Peebee gently lift her toward the shuttle.

“Good idea, kid,” Drack rumbled, patting the young man on the back.  Looking over at Reyes, he could see the fear etched into the man’s eyes.  “We’ll get your woman patched up and back in the fight.  Doc’s one of the best.  She’ll take good care of her.”

Nodding mutely, Reyes followed the others back to the shuttle.  Holstering his pistol, he shoved his hands under his armpits so the others couldn’t see how bad he was shaking.  He couldn’t lose her, not now that he had her back.

  
  



	11. Please Don't Go

_I'm sick and tired of being afraid_

_If I cry anymore then my tears will wash me away_

_But when I hear you call my name_

_I whisper the word that I never thought I'd ever say_

_And I hope to God you'll listen_

_And you'll keep me safe from harm_

_'Cause I found what I was missing_

_When I fell into your arms_

_And we cry away_

_I can feel the darkness coming_

_And I'm afraid of myself_

_Call my name and I'll come running_

_'Cause I just need some help_

_~Help - Hurts_

 

“Goddess,” Lexi breathed, looking down at the woman on her table.  Her scans took in every injury - punctured lung, multiple rib fractures, fractured jaw, broken nose, left eye socket shattered, massive bruising to the right temple, multiple broken fingers on the right hand, shattered kneecap.  And that wasn’t including the internal bleeding or the blown out biotic amp.  She wasn’t sure how the woman was able to walk away, let alone blow her torture chamber to pieces _and_ splatter her attacker into chunks, from all accounts of Ryder and crew.  

“Have you seen all these cybernetics?” Ryoto murmured, his fingers flying over the secondary medical display.  “From the readings I’m getting, they’re working overtime to keep her breathing and sending her system into overdrive to try and heal itself.  Amazing work, whoever did this, for whatever reason.  They’ve almost got her stabilized enough for surgery.”

Reyes stood just inside the doorway to the medical bay on the Tempest, tears leaking unknowingly out of the corners of his eyes.  His fingers went between fiddling with his wife’s dog tags and rings around his neck and twisting the wedding band around his finger.  Shena was too still, and the injuries Lexi had highlighted on the wall unit had him fearing he may be witnessing his wife’s final moments, no matter what Dr. Nakamoto was saying.

“We don’t have an amp to replace the one she’s blown,” Lexi sighed, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth.  Looking over toward the door, she caught sight of Reyes, her glance flicking over to the display he was staring at then back to the pale visage of the man himself.  Walking over to him, she lay her hand on his shoulder.  “You shouldn’t be in here.  We’ll take care of her.  Maybe see if you can find a biotic amp while we get her stabilized and through surgery, hmm?”

Dr. T’Perro’s words broke through the fog in his brain and he nodded, though he locked his gaze with hers for a moment.  “May I… May I at least see her for a moment before you kick me out?”

Nodding, she stepped back to let him inside.  

Reyes walked over to where Shena lay and took her uninjured hand in his, brushing his lips over her knuckles.  “I’ll be right outside, my Raven, _mi amore_.  Don’t… don’t leave me.  I just got you back…”  Turning on his heel he left the med-bay and heard the quiet snick of the lock falling into place.  Leaning against the wall across from the bay, he brought up his ‘tool, inputting the codes to reach his wife’s AI.  When EDI’s face filled the screen, he breathed out the semblance of a sigh of relief.

“EDI, I need your help.  Can you contact one of Shena’s friends and see if we can get a new biotic amp for her?  Unless she kept spares on her ship?  I just… I need to do something and they’re about to start surgery on her and… dammit!”  He slid down the wall, the tears leaking even faster now.

“Of course, Mr. Vidal,” EDI said, her voice a comforting murmur.  “And knowing Shena as I do, she’ll pull through this.  She’s been through worse and this time she has you to come back to.  Remember that.  EDI out.”

Closing out his ‘tool, Reyes hugged his legs to his chest, resting his forehead on his knees, and let the tears fall.

* * *

Shena had been in a medically induced coma the first week after surgery to allow her body a chance to naturally recuperate after such extensive surgery.  The second week saw her in and out of consciousness, though she spent more time under than awake, and even awake she really wasn’t coherent.  Reyes had stayed by her side the entire time, except when EDI had pulled him away for a shower, a quick nap, or some food, insisting she would keep close watch on the woman they both adored.

Her good hand in his, Reyes rubbed his thumb over her knuckles, willing Shena awake.  He missed her smile, her infectious laughter, her zest for life.  He found himself constantly watching the rise and fall of her chest, making sure she still breathed.  

“Reyes,” Scott called out from the doorway, waiting for the other man to acknowledge his presence.

“Hmm?” Reyes answered, his eyes never leaving his wife’s sleeping form.

“There’s an asari and two krogan requesting entrance.  Won’t say anything other than to let you know they’re here at your request.  Won’t even give us their names.”

“Let them in.  They’re friends of Shena’s and have the amp we’ve been waiting for,” he replied, rubbing his wife’s knuckles gently across his lips.

Ryder left the room, only to have it filled again with a whirling dervish of blue and white, followed by two large krogan males: one scarred across his head plate and decked out in red armor, the other not as heavily scarred, in white.  The krogan took up guard positions just inside the door, while the asari stood above Shena, scanning her from head to toe and checked her scans against the readouts on Lexi’s wall unit.  The rest of the Tempest’s crew stood outside the open doors, earning a bit of the stink-eye Shena had spoken of earlier from her krogan friends.

“Oh, Shepard, what have you gotten yourself into,” Liara sighed, her lips quirking into a bit of a smile.  “Always taking the problems of the world on your shoulders and then wondering why you felt like you’d just gone on a week long bender during shore leave.”

“That’s so her, isn’t it?” Reyes let himself laugh a little.  

“She was worse after Cerberus brought her back,” Liara replied.  “Between your disappearance, learning she’d lost two years of her life, and then Kaidan being an ass…” she stopped and shook her head.  “It took a self proclaimed psychotic biotic and an old merc to get her back on track, plus having Grunt over there to play mom slash battlemaster to.  She told me later she felt like her world was spinning out of control, and she wondered if maybe it was best to just let it carry her to her grave.”

“What stopped her?”

“Let’s just say I became a damn good information broker and was able to learn you’d joined the Initiative.  When she was recovered from the rubble of what was left over of the Citadel during our last battle, she told me to either let her die or help her find her way back to you.  I wasn’t about to lose one of the best friends I’d ever had so I spent the last six hundred plus years putting things in place to reunite the both of you.”

“Damn,” Reyes groaned.  “She told me it was bad, but I didn’t realize…”

“We weren’t going to let her die,” Wrex rumbled from near the door.  “If it meant tossing her on ice to get her to you, we were damn well going to do it.  She’s considered a member of Clan Urdnot and a sister to me, especially after all she’s done for the krogan.  Savannah…” he started before Grunt cut him off.

“Shena now, old man.  Years catching up to you?  Memory starting to go?” the younger krogan chuffed out a laugh.

“Shut it, pup.  I still have head lice bigger than you,” the older one growled, though there was no heat behind his words.  Returning to his train of thought, he continued on.  “ _Shena_ cured the genophage, kicked the reapers’ asses, and brought peace to the Milky Way.  She deserved something to go right for her for a change.”

“So what happened?” Grunt asked, eyeing the crowd outside the door that had started looking at Shena with renewed interest.

“No idea.  I wish I knew,” Reyes sighed.  He looked up when Liara started gently poking the newly healed area where the amp port was located.  “She hasn’t woken up coherent enough to talk about it.”

“Reyes, mind supporting her head for me while I get this new amp inserted?  It’ll help with the dark energy regulation in her system which should also help with her healing, though between her implants and the incredible skill of the doctors, her body is almost at one hundred percent.”

Nodding, Reyes followed her instructions on how to best support his wife while Liara affixed the new amp into place, watching her every move in case he ever had to help his wife with it, though hopefully she wouldn’t blow another one.  Once it was inserted, the static barrier that seemed to surround his wife decreased considerably and he could feel her body relaxing and the pained expression that had been on her face lately smoothing out.

“Can that build up hurt her?  She looks better already,” Reyes asked.

 “Think of static electricity but instead of you being able to get rid of it by accidentally being shocked by touching something metallic, or shocking someone else, it keeps building up inside you.  Without an amp to properly distribute the dark energy throughout her system and allow her body to regulate it, though she does have to do her own bleed off, it does basically the same thing,” Liara answered.

“Ouch…”

“Yes, and unlike asari who come by it naturally due to the eezo on Thessia, humans are still developing a tolerance to it.”

“So maybe some day I can say ‘Have you ever faced down a human commando unit before? Few people have’,” Shena slurred from her spot on the bed, laughter in her tone.

“Goddess, you’re such a smart-ass,” Liara chuckled, reaching out to brush a stray strand of hair out of her friend’s face.

“Mmhmm,” the woman in question answered, her newly opened gaze moving from Liara over to Reyes, where they scrunched up at the pain and worry in his eyes.  She started hiccuping, trying to fight back her tears.

“I’m sorry, so so sorry,” she began, losing her battle against the tears as they soaked the pillow.  “I’m so sorry…” she trailed off on a whisper.

“Shhhhh,” he replied, leaning forward to capture her tears with his lips, brushing them gently over the still tender skin of her lightly bruised eye.  “You’re here and alive.”

Lexi walked into the room and eyed those inside.  “I need you to leave while I check on my patient.  I promise I won’t hold her hostage for long, or stick her with all the needles Ryder seems to think I’m so fond of,” she smiled, shooing the small party out.

Reyes found himself surrounded by both the Tempest crew and Shena’s friends.  At the feel of a heavy hand on his shoulder, he looked up into the yellow eyes of Wrex.  The older krogan squeezed his shoulder amiably while leaving his hand there as a show of support.

Ryder stepped up into the front of the Tempest group and looked at the four who stood across from them.

“So you’re telling me that the woman in my ship’s medical bay is none other than Commander Savannah Shepard?” he asked, folding his arms over his chest.  “Another lie, Reyes?  Shena Vidal?  Hell, is she even your wife?  Why not just be up front?

“Hey man, go easy on the guy.  You don’t go asking for help and then sit by someone’s bedside like he did if there wasn’t something there.  Let’s hear him out,” Kosta stepped up, clapping his friend on the back.

“Watch it, kid,” Wrex curled his lip at Scott.  “That woman means more to me than your squishy hide.  You don’t want to throw accusations around unless you want to try pathfinding the inside of your asshole.”

“Heh, heh, heh,” Grunt let out his little giggle.  “I’d pay to see that.”

“Drack?” Ryder called out.  “Help me out here?”

“Heh, you’ve done a lot for the krogan here, kid, but in this case, I know the reputation of Clan Urdnot’s leader.  It’s well earned, and he’s one I don’t know I could actually walk away from without missing at least one of my prosthetics.  And if not him, there’s something about the younger one that I’m just not willing to take the chance.  I’m not getting in the middle of this pissing contest, sorry.”

“I am pure krogan. You should be in awe,” Grunt piped up, earning the first real laugh from Reyes.

“Well shit.”

“Savannah and Reyes are married,” Liara cut in, stepping in between the two groups, looking between Reyes and Scott.  “They were married a couple of weeks before the original _Normandy_ went down.  She’s tried to keep a low profile here because, understandably, she feels she’s already done her duty and just wants to retire in peace.  If it gets out that Shena, which is her legal first name, happens to be the same person who took down Saren, and who destroyed the Collector base after successfully traversing the Omega-4 relay, do you really see the leadership here leaving her alone?”

“Shit, the Council kept hounding her for almost a month to take up her role of Spectre here and she refused.  Her brief trip to the Nexus to hack into their systems, and get updated star charts and nav points, gave her more than enough of a glimpse into the administration to have her hightailing it off the station,” Reyes added, rubbing his fingers over his temples.  “Said they were worse than the Council back home during her Spectre days and that she didn’t trust them to not take advantage of her, especially with Tann’s extreme hatred of the krogan and Addison’s gross incompetence.  Luckily the current council finally decided to let her retire.”

“Okay, I get it.  Guess I’d be laying low, too, if I were in her shoes,” Ryder conceded.  

“Sorry if I treated her like a common tart,” Cora piped up from the back, embarrassment coloring her voice.

“Don’t worry about it.  She got a kick out of it,” Reyes cracked a bit of a grin.  Turning his head toward the med-bay door when it hissed open, he looked at Lexi expectantly.

“You can go in but try not to crowd her.  She’s awake and alert and I have her sitting up.  Her strength isn’t at peak yet so if she says she’s tired and asks you to leave, I expect you to heed her wishes.”

Reyes strode back into the room and took his seat next to his wife’s side, picking up her hand and lacing her fingers with his.  Reaching out with his other hand when she ducked and tried to hide behind her hair, he silently urged her to look at him.  When her violet-blue eyes locked onto his, he smiled, and he saw the tension leak out of her a bit.

“Reyes, I know I said it before, but I’m so sorry.  I didn’t plan on shit ending up so sideways, though with my luck I guess I should have,” Shena apologized.

“Just tell me what happened.”

Looking around at the group that crowded the doorway, some of them faces she’d never seen before, she relaxed a bit at finding those of her friends closer to the bed.  Sighing, she closed her eyes and leaned back against the pillows.

“When you told me Kaetus escaped, I started a few tracking programs.  One was for his communications which then lead to another one later on to try and pinpoint his location.  Found a mole of his within the port and hacked into his communications.  Learned he had plans to abduct Ryder.  Placed all his blame on the kid for Sloane’s death.  That’s when I started the second program.  It wasn’t until I was at Ditaeon where it didn’t have to follow so many protocol loops, that it found what was his main base at the time.”

Taking a deep breath, smiling her thanks at Liara when the asari handed her a glass of water, she took a sip and then continued on.

“I wasn’t about to let Kaetus kidnap an innocent.  He wanted blood spilled by the one who he thought killed her.  I decided to go on the offensive.  Couldn’t really ask anyone at the outpost - most of them are civilians.  If I asked anyone within the Collective, it might get back to the mole who’d then warn him.  I was right there.  Everything was going great until I realized he wasn’t among the rest and that’s when he cold-cocked me with his pistol.  Woke up in that damn shack.  He figured he’d hold me for a while, take out his anger on me for killing his men and maybe get an answer on where Ryder was.”

“Why would you step in for Ryder?” Gil asked from the back of the group.  “Not that I’m complaining, mind you.  I do happen to prefer him in one piece.”

Shena let out a rusty laugh, taking another sip of water.  

“Like I said, Ryder was an innocent.  He didn’t kill Sloane.  His only bad luck was in being in that cave when the shit went down.  I won’t let someone take the fall for my own work.”

“You’re saying you were the sniper?” Liam asked, looking at her.

“Yes, and I’m friendly, though I can understand yours and Drack’s worry that whoever shot Sloane might be a foe,” she quirked a grin his direction.

“Heard that, did you?” Liam flushed and rubbed the back of his neck.

“I was crouched right next to you while the two of you were talking.  Heard every word.”

“How were you able to get past SAM?  He’s a powerful AI,” Ryder asked.

“Me,” EDI answered, slipping through the throng of people to stand by Shena’s bedside.

“Must be one hell of an engineer to outsmart an AI,” Gil sounded impressed.

“EDI’s an AI, fully self-aware.  Her name stands for Enhanced Defense Intelligence,” Shena offered up.  “She’s been evolving in ways beyond even my comprehension the last many years.  With your SAM implanted into you and using your experiences to add to its own programming, its learning was a bit stunted from over six hundred years in dark space while you were all in cryo.  EDI has been active and interactive, learning on her own to a point where she’s able to fully understand how to be human while increasing her defense capabilities to an infinite amount, above our own understanding.”

“Impressive,” Scott let out a low whistle.  “And the body?”

“Human infiltration model appropriated from a Cerberus model that was sent to sabotage my progress during the last war.  A war which you all luckily missed since you were already in dark space at that time,” Shena answered.

“She wouldn’t have anything to do with that human hybrid AI Overlord program that Knight bitch mentioned, would she?” Drack asked, nodding towards EDI.  “I mean she looks human, skin and all.”

“Synthetic dermal overlay, bullet proof along with a few other protections,” the AI answered.

“Gah, shit, Overlord,” Shena muttered, rubbing the bridge of her nose.  “No, EDI was definitely not a part of that.  I shut that shit down.  Talk about a house of horrors.”

“You shut it down?  Dr. Knight said she shut it down,” Ryder inquired, looking confused.

“Perhaps she was part of the last wave of scientists to leave, but no, the program was still going on.  Dr. Gavin Archer hadn’t given up on finding a way to communicate with the geth to either find a way to coexist peacefully with them or gather intel to wipe them out.  He was the last scientist left at the facility.  The geth were protecting the hybrid AI because he was in a lot of pain, screaming for help.  I threatened Dr. Archer and rescued his brother, the one he’d hooked up to communicate with the geth.  David was purely human, with a mind for mathematics that allowed him to understand how the geth communicated, but a human mind can easily be overcome by the millions of programs in the consensus.  I took him somewhere safe, somewhere quiet, where his brother couldn’t harm him ever again.”

“And the others here with you?”  Cora asked, quickly changing the subject as Shena was noticeably upset over the topic.  “And, um, sorry about what I said on Kadara.”

“No offense taken.  Thought it was hilarious, actually,” Shena smiled at the younger woman.  “The two krogan here are Urdnot Wrex, clan chief and my brother, while the other is Urdnot Grunt, my tank born krogan son.  Wrex was with me when I went after Saren, Grunt was instrumental in my fight against the Collectors.  They both helped during the fight against the reapers in the last war.  My asari friend is Dr. Liara T’Soni.”

“Dad’s got a few audio-logs and notes of hers in his old quarters on the Hyperion,” Scott murmured.

“While I’m sure you all have a lot of questions, I’d really like to spend some time alone with my husband, if you don’t mind.  If my friends are up to answering them, that’s up to them.”

Walking up to Shena, Ryder held his hand out to her, then shook it when she gripped his back.  “Thank you.  You could’ve just let Kaetus go through with his plan, but you didn’t.  And before you passed out, your exit from that building and then the splatter effect on him?  Well, I’m sure even Liam would agree that it was straight out of an action vid.  Totally awesome.”

She couldn’t help the snort of laughter that escaped.  “I can just hear my old pilot now.  He’d be pissed that nobody thought to take pictures to preserve my badassery.  But seriously, I won’t ever let someone take the fall for my actions.  If I can’t own up to them, they weren’t worth doing to begin with.”

“Either way, I owe you my life.”

“And you repaid that debt by saving mine.”

 

 


	12. The Avatar of Hope

_ And now, as long as I can, I'm holding on with both hands, _

_ 'Cause forever I believe that there's nothing I could need but you, _

_ So if I haven't yet, I've gotta let you know... _

_ You're never gonna be alone _

_ From this moment on, if you ever feel like letting go, _

_ I won't let you fall. _

_ When all hope is gone, I know that you can carry on. _

_ We're gonna see the world out, _

_ I'll hold you 'til the hurt is gone. _

_ Oh! _

_ You've gotta live every single day, _

_ Like it's the only one, what if tomorrow never comes? _

_ Don't let it slip away, _

_ Could be our only one, you know it's only just begun. _

_ Every single day, _

_ Maybe our only one, what if tomorrow never comes? _

_ Tomorrow never comes… _

_ ~Never Gonna Be Alone - Nickelback _

 

Grunt, Wrex, and Liara stayed for a couple of weeks.  Shena ended up paying Umi for damages when the krogan and Ryder decided to have themselves a bit of fun inside Kralla’s.  She was never going to let the Pathfinder live that down, if she could help it.  

Reyes held her a bit tighter at night and kept her closer to him during the day.  He was the one, out of the two of them, who had nightmares of the time Shena had been held captive by Kaetus and tortured.  Even though she was the picture of perfect health, he couldn’t stop seeing her as she was when she’d escaped the hut, or the fear when she passed out in his arms.  He just felt blessed that she wasn’t chiding him or chafing under his need to have her near.  

The landing pad for the  _ SR-3 _ was finished.  While she wasn’t exactly forthcoming with her role as Commander Shepard, Shena wasn’t hiding it either.  Dr. Nakamoto had taken up residence in the ship’s medical bay during his off hours, working on a non-addictive strain of Oblivion that could better be used as an antibiotic.  Him and Dr. T’Perro sent notes back and forth, with her consulting with Dr. Harry Carlyle on the Hyperion when something stumped her and Ryoto.  They were also working on a serum that would be considered a cross between an antidote and the old earth medication of Narcan that would not only treat overdoses but help wean an addict off the drug.  

Ryder’s work on Elaaden helping the krogan, and his subsequent victories with finding the missing arks and Meridian’s control center, was enough proof to Shena that she’d made the right decision in keeping him out of Kaetus’ hands.  He may have started off incredibly green, but he was coming into his own and had a strong team behind him.  Her and Reyes pretty much retired from smuggling, outside of necessities required by the angaran resistance, but with her back pay sitting idle, they really didn’t need the extra credits coming in.  The Collective was doing well, and the exiles were getting along surprisingly well with the outpost.  Anyone stupid enough to try and cause a disruption was quickly put in their place by the exiles themselves before any of the leadership had to become involved.  People were genuinely content.  Yes, there were hardships, and the big worry was in regards to the Archon and his ability to uplift his chosen, which gave Shena the creeps, but otherwise people seemed to feel as if they had finally found their place.

Reyes ran his fingers through his wife’s hair, her breath puffing over his skin in light bursts as she slept.  He’d had another nightmare, and she’d rolled into him, hugging him tight to her in her sleep.  Even when passed out to the world, she seemed to have a sixth sense where he was concerned, curling up into him when he’d wake in a panic worried that she wasn’t there.  It was these moments, the quiet moments in the dark, that captured his heart the most.  

She snuffled and buried her nose into the crook of his neck, the rest of her body following suit until she was half laying on him.  Holding back a chuckle, the sounds she was making sounding so damn adorable, he pressed a kiss to her bare shoulder.  

“Can’t sleep?” he felt her mutter against his skin.

“Nightmare,” he admitted.

“I’m so sorry, Reyes,” she sighed, lifting her head to look at him.  “If I’d just…” her words were interrupted by his finger against her lips.

“None of that.  You did what was right.  My brain just goes into what if moments when I’m asleep, is all.”

“How can I help?”

“Just keep being you.  Keep putting up with me holding you close.  I know you’re not glass, I know you won’t break, and I trust you with my life, but having you in arm’s reach where I can touch you and feel you’re there…”

“If that’s what you need…”

She stopped mid sentence, the comm unit in the living area beeping incessantly.  “The fuck?”

The two of them hopped out of bed and threw on their robes, hurrying over to the unit.  Turning it on sans video, Reyes barked out, “What?”

“The Archon has taken the human ark,  _ Hyperion _ ,” Evfra’s voice came through the comm.  “The pathfinder is requesting assistance from anyone who is willing to help.  This may be our only chance to take out the Archon and his kett, once and for all.  Will you fight with us?”

“Upload the coordinates, Evfra,” Shena requested, brain going into commander mode.  “My ship will be ready in 15 minutes, en route in 20.  Anything else you need from us?”

“Nothing.  Stay strong and clear,” the angaran commander signed off.

“Well shit,” the two of them said in unison.  Shena quickly threw on her armor and pulled her hair back into its customary braids.  Reyes followed her out of the house, locking it behind them, and they jogged up the ramp to the  _ SR-3. _

“EDI, upload these coordinates to the nav computer.  We have an ark to try to save.”

* * *

As Shena went through pre-flight checks with precision skill, Reyes paced the corridor barking out orders to his subordinates to get as many Collective fighters airborne and on their way to Meridian.  Between his wife and EDI, they were airborne before the fifteen minute countdown had expired and out of atmo soon after.  Coming up behind the pilot’s chair, he fiddled with one of the braids on her head, then traced his fingers over the Prothean vengeance tattoo on the right side of her scalp.

“So, once we get there, what’s the plan, beautiful?” he asked, enjoying the way her fingers flew over the orange holo-terminal.

“In this situation?  While I love having back-up plans for back-up plans, I’m thinking this is going to be one of my ‘feel it - do it’ ops,” she answered, turning her head back to wink at him, a smirk curving her lips.  “We don’t know what we’ll find there.  None of us has seen Meridian to have any clue what to expect.  Is this going to be mostly a ground war?  How much air support will be needed?  It’s those unanswered questions that make me think it’s going to be planning on the fly.”

“Ahh, good point, Shena.  So, if it ends up being both an air and ground war, what do you think you’ll end up doing?”

“Take out as many fighters as possible then have EDI drop me off.  She can help with air support while I come in on the ground.  Up to you if you want to stay here and take the helm or push forward with the ground troops.”

“My flight suit might not be the best for me if I hit the ground with you,” he sighed.

“Check the locker right next to mine.  Not only did I get EDI some new clothes, I had some armor crafted for you, just in case we ended up in another situation like the one with Zia.  It’s similar to some Alliance armor Kaidan wore during our fight against the reapers.  Strong, sturdy, great shielding, but instead of Alliance blue, I had it tooled in Shady Bastard aka Anubis black with gold accents.”

Reyes snickered and smacked a kiss on his wife’s cheek.  “You sure do know how to spoil a man, my love.”

“Hey, it matches the Bitch Queen, otherwise Raven, shade of black I used on my Phantom armor, so we’ll be hitting the ground in style,” she quipped, Reyes’ snickering growing louder.

“Well then, let me try it on and if it fits, when you hit the ground, I’ll be right beside you.”

* * *

“Talk about a shitstorm,” Shena murmured, eyeing the numerous kett fighters dodging around the Remnant ships and those belonging to the Initiative and Heleus resistance.

“We need to help clear a path for the  _ Tempest _ .  It’s unarmed,” Reyes stated.

“On it.  EDI, lower the main gun.  This’ll be a great time to test Garrus’ version of the mini-Thanix,” she grinned, her eyes brightening as she felt the shift when the cannon snicked into place.  A few blasts cleared out a small kett frigate in front, allowing the Tempest to slip through the fighters and follow the Hyperion into Meridian.  Following behind, using the wing mounted torpedoes, she shot down a few more fighters then dropped the  _ Normandy _ through the entrance into the planet’s atmo.  Almost immediately, she felt the ship start to shudder when they hit a reversal in gravity.  Keying in a few commands, she changed direction and chased down the  _ Tempest _ , nudging ahead when it slowed to do a combat drop of the Nomad.

“Holy shit, is it just me or did that ship look like a  _ Tempest _ sized version of the  _ Normandy _ ?” they heard Kallo over the shared alliance channel.

“That’s exactly what it is, my friend!” Shena laughed over the comms, punching the ship down the center toward where she could now see the Hyperion.  “We’ll do what we can to keep the skies safe and the  _ Hyperion _ in one piece.”

“Shena?  Reyes?”  Ryder asked incredulously.

“Who else?  You think we’d stay away with a party like this?” Reyes chuckled.  

“Glad to have you along!”

“Wouldn’t want to be anywhere else, my friend!” 

“We’ve got you, too!”  The distinct sound of turian flange filled the comms.

“Kandros?  Who else?”

“Most of the angaran resistance,” Evfra answered.

“And us, of course,” Pathfinder Hayjer chimed in, followed by verbal assent from Avitus and Sarissa.

“Cheer!  Cheer!  The gang’s all here!”  Shena’s booming laugh filled the comms.  Swooping around the kett fighters, she took out the few that were headed toward the Nomad.  “Exiles are inbound too, Pathfinder.  You do what needs to be done while we soften up the kett that try to come in behind.”

“Thanks guys!”

* * *

The myriad of groups worked together, keeping what kett they could off Ryder.  Checking the radar, Shena frowned.  With a barely noticeable nod of her head, EDI took her place at the controls, even though the AI had no need to physically interface with them.

“What’s up?” Reyes asked, following his wife down to the loading bay.

“Too may kett inbound behind Ryder.  EDI’s sending out an SOS to get some ground support and it looks as if Kallo has dropped off the rest of the  _ Tempest _ squad, but he’s going to need some extra bodies.  EDI’s taking control and getting us close enough for a drop.  We’ll be too close for the hybrid so we’ll just have to use the jump jets to control our descent.”

“Let me radio Evfra and the Collective, see what I can pull together.”

Shena nodded, checking over her husband’s jump jets then, once he was finished contacting the others, he did the same for her.  The bay doors opening, she shot her husband a wicked grin before affixing her helmet and launched herself out of the ship, the wind whipping past her as she fell at a steady drop towards the nav point.  Reyes’ whoop of glee in their shared comms had her responding in kind as the two free-fell.  At her nav computer’s guidance, she activated the jets, slowing her speed until she dropped into a soft landing roll, dusting herself off.  Grabbing the Isharay her husband had gifted to her, she turned to the groups that had started to form behind them.

“Okay, mix it up!  I want a combination of tech and combat with at least one biotic, if we have any, in each team.  I counted at least three drop-ships unloading before we landed, and we don’t know how many kett the Archon already has inside.  Ryder and his squad  _ need  _ to make it to the control center before the head asshole has a chance to fuck our shit up.  Who’s with me?”

A resounding chorus of yells punctuated the air.  The exiles, angara, Initiative military, and a good handful of krogan split up into the suggested teams and headed inside.  Shena and Reyes exchanged a look, then nodded to each other.

“I’ve got your back, love.”

“Nobody I’d prefer to have at my six than you, sweets.  Let’s do this!”

* * *

Reyes was pleasantly surprised.  His wife had turned a mixed group of people who had never fought together into a precision strike force with only a few words.  Granted there were a few injuries, but nothing that medi-gel couldn’t patch up.  When word spread that the  _ Hyperion _ had crash landed, they had all held their collective breath, then let out a raucous cheer when it was determined there were no fatalities, thanks to the combined assistance from the other pathfinders.

As they moved further into the control center, they came across pockets of kett trying to flank Ryder.  Meeting up with the rest of Scott’s squad, each of those members who hadn’t joined the initial push joined the strike teams that had come up behind.  Cora had decided to join up with him and Shena.  It was a thing of beauty to watch his wife set up a biotic combo and the resulting explosions when the vanguard detonated it.  For the times in which they were in too close of quarters for such tactics, Shena clearly was having a bit too much fun with the sniper rifle he’d given to her.  He lost count of how many kett she’d beheaded with a single shot, and the snigger of glee that followed each one.

“Starting to wonder if retirement might be too tame for you, Raven,” he commented to his wife.  “You’re enjoying this more than I’d expected.”

“And this is why we’ll be vacationing on Omega.  Aria set me up a nice apartment not too far from Afterlife.  There’s always a fight somewhere.  And if there isn’t, well I can always start one if need be.”

He couldn’t help the laughter that escaped his lips.  “Ahh, Shena, why does this not surprise me?”

“Because I’m the one who started the last bar brawl on Kralla’s when I was bored?”

“How did you not get kicked out of the Alliance?” Cora asked, a bit surprised at the conversation.

“Because I was a good little soldier.  And if you’re one of those who pays your damages, the Alliance is a bit more lenient because they also realize that there are some groups that, due to the stress of their assignments, may need to party a bit harder than others, N7’s being one of them,” Shena answered.

“And if you’re one of those who fights for fun and not for insult, a lot of bars overlook it as soldiers letting off steam,” Reyes added.  “Plus, if you happen to haul in one of those actually causing shit and toss them in the drunk tank, taking a few blows in the process, while taking your turn as the sober one during shore leave, they’re even more willing to overlook it.”

“Which is another reason I played the tart and didn’t venture much up into Kadara proper.  Sloane would’ve recognized me immediately as the one who handed her her ass a few times.  Tried to come at me sober once, too,” Shena continued on, sniping at the few remaining kett prior to the main control room.”

“Guys, might wanna haul ass a bit quicker, yeah?  Got an Architect in here and Ryder’s not looking too hot.  Think it’s all these fuckin’ remnant terminals he has to hack without SAM’s help,” Liam interrupted.

“Give me a sitrep.  What else are we walking into, besides whatever an Architect is?” Shena asked, jogging toward the room.

“Oh, other than the fuckton of remnant the Archon keeps building since he has control of Sara and SAM?  Not much.  Side note, stay out of the wet.  It’s a shocker,” the crisis response specialist answered.

“Got it.  Coming up on the control center now.”

The three of them entered through a side hallway and were met by a large number of remnant.  Queueing up his ‘tool, Reyes sent a multi-vortex overload into a few of the observers, making them easier for his wife to set up a singularity and follow it with a warp, taking out a good number of them.  Cora’s charge bulldozed a half a dozen breachers, while Reyes finished off the assemblers with a few shots of his wife’s Paladin.  

Ducking behind cover as they got further into the room, Shena looked up at the Architect.  “How the hell do you fight those things?  Shit, give me Collectors or reaperized targets, but this?  Ugh, looks too much like a robotic thresher maw,” she shuddered, her eyes were wide while she tried to study the large remnant.

“Take out the legs and when you see it charging up the maw to fire, shoot the firing mechanism,” Cora answered.  “And if it focuses on you, run.  Whatever the weapon is that it has, it's obliterated anything we’ve used as cover.”

“Ten-four.”

The three crept closer, clearing out the smaller remnant.  Joining the rest of the squad, and those who had helped her clear out the remaining kett before reaching the center, they kept the attention on them.  This  allowed Ryder to do what he needed to shut down the consoles, draining the Archon’s power.  

“How many more, Ryder?” She barked over the comms.  

“One, I think?”  He answered.

“Please, Scott,” Sara sobbed from up above.  “I can’t hold him back much longer.  He’s getting too powerful.”

“Nav of last console?”  Shena asked.

Scott sent her the nav in answer.  Glancing over, she saw the Archon was already trying to set up defenses.  Leaping over the omni-gel like current, she followed mnemonic after mnemonic of warps and shockwaves, clearing out the remnant that the Archon was trying to use as a barrier to the console, while setting up a singularity to block any flankers.  Crouching down behind a short wall, she pulled out her Wraith shotgun.

“Run, Scott!  I’ve got you covered!”  

As he entered within radius, she set up a biotic bubble, shielding the two of them, her violet-blue eyes steely with determination.  Turning her head, she locked eyes with Reyes and shared a smile.  The last time she’d used a similar mnemonic, she’d been on Akuze and he’d been her saving grace.  This time, she was bound and determined to save the one who could save the cluster, and she had more than enough power behind her to succeed.  She may be the avatar of Victory for the Milky Way galaxy, but the one giving of himself at the console, wiping away the blood from his nose as he overused the barely there SAM connection to interface with the control center and disengage the Archon from his airborne throne,  _ he _ was the avatar of Hope for Heleus.

“It’s done,” she heard Ryder say from behind her.  Standing, she noticed the remnant were no longer hostile and were just wandering around aimlessly.  Turning toward where the Archon had been connected to the central controls, she saw him fall from grace and hit the ground with a hard thud.  

“Go to your sister.  I’ll make sure he’s dead, okay?” she clasped Ryder on the shoulder, giving it a squeeze.  When the young man nodded to her, she jumped over the debris from the destroyed remnant and made her way over to the Archon.  Not taking any chances, she shot him in the head with her shotgun, taking away most of his skull.  She didn’t breathe a sigh of relief, however, until she saw the young Pathfinder supporting his sister and helping her walk away from where she’d been confined.

* * *

Enjoying the music pounding through the walls as people partied throughout the  _ Hyperion _ , celebrating the downfall of the Archon and finding humanity’s first home, Reyes flipped through some possible contracts, trying to decide whether or not to take any of them.  Smiling as Shena approached with two glasses of cold beer, he turned off his ‘tool and took the one offered to him.  Resting his free arm over her shoulders when she curled up against his side, the two of them sipped quietly at their drinks.

“Quite the turn out,” Shena noted, watching people from all races intermingling.  “Reminds me of Earth after the reapers were destroyed.  Parties were still ongoing months after, when I was considered well enough recuperated to get out of bed and leave the hospital.  It was something to see.  You could just feel the hope in the air that hadn’t been there before.  Watching races that had been the next best thing to enemies working side by side, laughing and joking as if they’d been neighbors all their lives.  There’s nothing like it.”

“For a green kid, Ryder came far, didn’t he?” Reyes commented, downing half his glass of beer in one gulp.  

“He’s the future.  Javik was Vengeance, I’m Victory, Scott’s Hope.  That’s what this place needs, after all the fits and starts it had.  They have it now, with him.  Heleus is in good hands, I think.”

“Agreed.  What do you think about us going home to Kadara, and getting started on the rest of our lives together?”

Leaning up to kiss him, her tongue gliding sweetly over his, Shena held him close for a moment, breaking the kiss only when they needed to come up for air.  “I say let’s get out of here.  This is his time to shine, not mine.”

Taking her hand, Reyes tugged Shena towards a side exit where he had EDI already waiting with their ship.  The two of them stepped on board, the  _ Normandy SR-3 _ speeding off once they were safely inside.  Reyes cupped his wife’s face in his hands, kissing her with a rare tenderness.

“We’ve finally made it, finally building a life together.  We’re never gonna be alone again,” Reyes declared, the look in his whiskey hazel eyes intense as he gazed down at his wife.

“Never.  You and I?  It took us a while, but we’re right where we belong.”


End file.
